Latest news with #traumasurgery
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Local trauma surgeon weighs in on recovery process for gunshot victims following two Officers shot
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A local trauma surgeon explains how damaging a shooting injury can be following two Mifflin Township Officers being shot on duty. Two Mifflin Township police officers are now recovering from their injuries after a shooting incident Wednesday night. One was shot in the arm and is recovering at home, but the other still has a long road ahead of him after being shot multiple times. Gunshot wounds like the ones officers sustained can be very damaging. Dr. Keshav Deshpande is a trauma surgeon at Grant Medical Center, where many gunshot victims are treated. He did not talk specifically about the Mifflin Township shooting, but he said treating gunshot wounds of any kind is typically difficult. While a bullet is small, it can destroy almost anything in its path. 'That damage can really create cavitations in the body that are much bigger than the bullet itself. And also, when the bullet goes into the body, it can break apart, and that shrapnel can really go in different directions, causing injuries to multiple organs,' said Dr. Deshpande. The surgeon said treating any kind of gunshot wound is anxiety-inducing. Usually, he said, the hospital staff doesn't know who they are treating. But Dr. Deshpande said he has treated law enforcement in the past. 'By the time they get through our doors, most often, we don't know who they are, whether they were the good guy, the bad guy, just an innocent person,' said Dr. Deshpande. 'Sometimes we don't know that they're a police officer, and so we try to treat everybody the same.' Dr. Deshpande said knowing he is helping a police officer can weigh heavily because it means something happened in the community, but his focus is on getting each patient healed. 'It can be a long road to recovery from all aspects, from a holistic aspect, a physical aspect, the whole gamut,' said the surgeon. While Dr. Deshpande didn't talk about the Mifflin Township officers' injuries, local Fraternal Order of Police president Brian Steel said the officer who was shot multiple times just had a lengthy surgery and is in the ICU at Grant. 'This is a couple-week process, and right now we're just hoping there's no kind of infection or blood clot or anything that sets in,' said Steel. Both officers were wearing bulletproof vests, but Steel said there are still areas where a bullet can get through, which is how the officer was injured so severely. 'So he is stable by the great work and the grace of God and the hospital medical staff. He's on the road to recovery. Just keep your thoughts and prayers for him,' said Steel. Both officers will be off work while they rest and recover. While they will still get paid their salary, the cost of recovery will be a financial burden. Steel said the FOP will have a fundraiser in the near future for the officers and their families. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Ending the 'unjustified violence' in Gaza is a 'US political decision'
Dr Feroze Sidhwa, an American trauma surgeon who has volunteered in Gaza, told the UN Security Council on May 28 that only one country can end the dire medical situation in the occupied territory.
CBS News
12-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
How front line doctors, health workers seeing domestic violence survivors help break the cycle of abuse
The first 24 hours after a domestic abuse incident have been found to be critical for survivors, their ability to get help and get out of the abusive situation. That front line response often falls to a team of doctors, hospital workers and community activists when law enforcement and the courts can't get them help fast enough. Those responders say they often see abuse victims on a repeat basis. "We have seen patients who've come here with one injury and the next time they come, they don't make it," said Dr. Anne Stey, a trauma surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. "And so that's a reality." RELATED: New protections for domestic violence victims in Illinois now in effect under Karina's Law Stey said she has seen domestic violence incidents grow significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020. "Violence often becomes a language that people start being exposed to in the home, sometimes from a very young age, and then it is recreated when they create their own families," she said. "And it can even bleed out into the community, and it can ultimately be the cause of a lot of the community violence that we can see." Stey is part of the hospital's first response to domestic violence cases. Outside of the emergency room, she does research on ways to break the cycle for her patients. Studies show survivors of intimate partner violence are more than twice as likely to return to the ER within 30 days, which is why Stey says the follow-up matters just as much as the first response. She said poverty and unemployment are among the strongest predictors of domestic violence. According to Bureau of Justice statistics, women in households earning under $25,000 a year face abuse at three times the rate of those with higher incomes. Unemployment increases the risk of domestic violence by more than 30%. Daisy Vega works alongside Dr. Stey as Northwestern Hospital's violence intervention coordinator, helping survivors access resources like a safe place to stay, or victim compensation funding up to a year after their hospital stay. It's a critical time to help them escape any ongoing danger. "Unfortunately, with the work that I do, some people are like, 'I was meant to get shot at some point,'" she said. "And that's just the life that they think they are going to have." Gwen Baxter has herself lived with domestic violence, at a time, she said, when resources were scarce. Now she works with Acclivus, an Illinois state program that partners with six hospitals to help connect survivors to everything from housing to food and legal aid. The hospital-based programs can reduce the risk of reinjury by up to 60%, according to the American College of Surgeons. "And if they just know they got that type of support system, they become strong, you know," Baxter said. "They see outside of that relationship because some of them feel like they're in too deep." This team works not just to heal wounds, but to give hope. "They're afraid all the time," Stey said. "Having these opportunities, knowing they're not going to be on the street, knowing that they're going to have enough food for their family, knowing that they're going to be able to, you know, if their attacker comes after them that they're going to have legal recourse to prevent that person from hurting them or their family, is incredibly important." More than 12,000 victims of violence have turned to Acclivus for help during that "what's next" period after an incidence of abuse.
