Crush injuries may seem like something that only construction workers and those in other, similar fields have to worry about. But in reality, most people face situations that could result in crush injuries several times throughout the week.
Thus, it is important to understand more about crush injuries. This includes the impacts they have and how they happen in the first place.
Types of crush injuries
Up To Date looks at crush injuries and their impacts. Crush injuries happen when a person ends up pinned, run down or otherwise struck by a large and/or heavy object.
The situations in which a crush injury may happen can differ greatly. For example, crush injuries can involve a car driving over someone’s foot, or a person getting crushed by a collapsing building. Car accidents also leave ample room for crush injuries, which is often one of the biggest ways that most average people will face this possibility.
Crush injuries often involve either the limbs or extremities or the torso or trunk. Some crush injuries can involve all, depending on the size of the object that crushes the victim. Each type of crush injury has its own unique risks, and each can prove deadly.
Extremity and torso injuries
For extremity injuries, the biggest risk is often that of infection. Areas without blood flow may quickly end up necrotizing and dying, which can introduce gangrene, sepsis and other deadly bacteria and infection.
On the other hand, torso injuries can lead to the shutdown or failure of organs. Even in situations where the victim gets saved, they sometimes have to deal with permanently damaged organs as a result of the crush injury.