“The Hamas organization is explicitly dedicated to the destruction of Israel. That is not a rhetorical gimmick; it is its declared unwavering primary goal.” – James Howard Kunstler

 

Yesterday Hamas declared “a day of rage” in Israel, engaging in coordinated attacks on the civilian population. One occurred on a public bus, where two attackers stabbed and shot passengers – from reports it was ended by an armed citizen. Another consisted of a terrorist running a car into people waiting at a bus stop; the driver then exited the vehicle and viciously attacked his victims with a meat clever. This attack was also stopped by an armed citizen.

Watch the video of that event below.

The video serves as a lesson on a number of topics, but I’d like to focus on the medical side of it.

In our Emergency Treatment of Gunshot Wounds class we point out that people who are good and dead will continue to fight. A prime example is bank robber and murderer Michael Platt, one of the two felons involved in the April 11, 1986, FBI shootout in Miami, FL.

At the onset of the fight, Platt received a penetrating chest wound from a 9mm Winchester Silvertip that entered first through his right arm, severing the brachial vessels, and then took out his right lung, rupturing either the pulmonary artery or vein. During his autopsy, 1300ml of blood (20% of his total blood volume) was found in the plural space of his chest cavity, and there was also a huge quantity of his blood on the ground. Medical experts generally agree that his wound was non-survivable, yet that dead man went on to murder two FBI agents and wound another five.

The question we ask in class is: if one of your rounds destroys your attacker’s heart, how long does he have till he passes out? Answer: from 3-30 seconds normally, but it might be as long as he can hold his breath!

We also point out that just because an attacker goes down they can’t be expected to stay down. When we start poking holes in them to cause leaks, they may experience an immediate drop in blood pressure. That pressure differential might cause them to fall to the ground (…if we’re lucky!) Of course, that can sometimes can be a psychosomatic result of the realization they are being shot. But, in cases where they fall due to a drop in blood pressure it can equalize when they go prone, thus resulting in a “second wind.”

I think we are seeing exactly that in the video. We have a motivated, suicidal attacker, who is shot and falls at least 4 times, and gets back up a fifth time, perhaps even after being shot a fifth time!

Of course, a video from one angle without sound does not a diagnosis make; autopsies, scene reports, toxicology, and other evidence, might suggest a different narrative.

Lessons:

– We do not get to choose the who, what, when, where, or why of our next fight. The murderer chooses all of that, we simply have to be ready to counter and end the attack.

– Pistols are not rifles. …carry a pistol, but understand that when you fire it in defense of innocent life your enemy will not explode into a shower of sparks (no matter how many lies ammunition manufacturers print on the box!)

– Some attackers will not be stopped without devastating bodily trauma – sometimes that’s due to pure will, other times it’s fueled by psychosis, and other times it’s chemically induced. In such cases, don’t be surprised when you have to shoot them like they vote in Chicago, which is early and often.

When we shoot a Violent Criminal and he continues his attack, all it means is that we haven’t shot him enough! How many rounds it will take is something else we don’t get to know.

– Carry enough ammunition! How much is enough? “The only way you can have too much ammo is if you’re drowning or on fire.” – Jeff Chudwin

– DON’T RELAX TOO SOON! STAY IN THE FIGHT!!!

“If a man has decided that he is going to bite off your nose no matter what happens to him in the process, the chances are he will succeed in doing it.” – Bruce Lee