Crush injuries are among the most severe injuries that a person could experience in his or her lifetime.
These injuries can occur in any situation but often happen in fields of construction or other industrial areas. What should you know about these incidents and the injuries they create?
What causes crush injuries?
Up To Date discusses crush injury incidents. Crush injuries come from any incident in which part or the entirety of the body ends up crushed, flattened, pinned, run over or otherwise compressed between two or more large or heavy objects, or one heavy object and the ground.
These incidents most often occur in fields like industrial work or construction due to the use of numerous heavy machines and equipment. However, it can also occur to people outside of these fields. Car crashes and natural disasters make up the top reasons for crush injuries outside of risky fields of employment.
The impact of crush injuries
Crush injuries often impact either the torso or the limbs, unless it is a full-body crush injury, such as what happens when a person ends up trapped under a collapsed building or structure.
With crush injuries to the limbs, the biggest risks tend to come in the form of gangrene, bacteria and the possibility of amputation.
With torso crush injuries, organ failure often makes for the biggest risk. In either case, sepsis may also occur. This fatal blood infection can take a victim’s life quickly, but so can other complications related to crush injuries.
This is why quick treatment and medical care are so crucial for the survival and health of the victims.
