Blast injuries tertiary

Tertiary blast injury - injuries due to the blast wind The blast wind (dynamic overpressure) results from the motion of the combustion products of the explosion. Resultant injuries vary from total disruption to amputation and devastating injuries from impact of the displaced body on the envirorunent. 

All injuries that are the result of an explosion are categorized as primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary blast injuries. Casualties with primary blast injuries are a direct result of the blast wave from HEs. The... 

Blast injuries to victims are classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary (Figure 6.16). 

Significant primary blast injury only occurs in those who have been exposed to high blast loading and are consequently very close to the point of detonation (remember the pressure distance curve. Fig. 3.2). As a result, most such casualties will have died from secondary or tertiary injuries. However, reflection and summation in closed spaces may be associated with a significant incidence of primary injuries in survivors of atrocities in areas such as bars and buses. In one Israeli bus bomb incident, incidences of 76% for eardrum perforation, 38% for blast lung and 14% for abdominal blast injury were found. 

Thoracic injury may not be confined to pulmonary tissue. Rib fractures in the posterior angles may occur with high blast loads but are far more commonly tertiary impact injuries. Mucosal bruising in the upper airways with stripping of the epithelium may also occur... 

Retroperitoneal haemorrhage and solid organ damage are more likely to result from fragmentation (secondary injury) or displacement (tertiary injury) than from primary blast injury. Bowel injuries appear more common in the ileocaecal region. 

The explosion wind following a blast can carry persons away, causing injury as a result of their falling, tumbling over, or colliding with obstacles. This effect is referred to as a tertiary effect. 

Tertiary effects of explosions are those injuries or fatalities caused as people are knocked down or thrown by the blast into stationary objects. Reference 101 provides additional guidance on explosion effects on people. 

Explosions can cause injury by the primary blast wave and heat (primary injury), by the shrapnel thrown by the blast (secondary injury), or by the blast victim being thrown against a fixed object (tertiary injury). 

Exposure to blast overpressure waves can cause extensive damage to an individual. There are a variety of mechanisms through which injuries can be sustained. The transfer of kinetic energy from blast overpressure exposure t5q>ically generates primary injuries, such as the shearing of tissues. Shrapnel and other debris can impact an individual and cause secondary injury. Tertiary injuries are sustained from impact with surroxmding objects... 

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