Blast Injuries

Explosions and blast injuries are infrequently encountered events in non-military settings, but, the frequency of these events is increasing in recent years. Explosions may cause injuries that range from soft tissue injuries that are familiar to many EMS providers to more complex injuries such as blast lung and occult bowel injuries that require advanced imaging and critical care management. Injury patterns are determined by a number of factors such as type of explosive, distance from the blast, and any shielding between the source and the victim. Provider safety is paramount at the scene of these events as devices may intentionally be set in a fashion to injure first responders. Finally, any successful response to an event of this type is predicated on training for these low-frequency events and must include familiarity with the triage scheme that is in use in your particular region.