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- Title
In the Line of Fire—21st-Century Approach to an Ancient War Injury.
- Authors
Frank, Matthias; Rademacher, Grit; Schmucker, Uli; David, Stephan; Ekkernkamp, Axel
- Abstract
Authentic black-powder muzzle-loader weapons or replicas are used today primarily for re-enactments of historic battles. A lay actor playing the role of a Prussian infantryman sustained life-threatening gunshot injuries during a recent re-enactment of a historic battle of the Sixth Coalition. As only blank historic muzzle-loading weaponry was used, the origin of the missile causing the wounding was initially unclear. Further investigation revealed a ramrod that had been propelled out of the barrel of another gunner’s smooth-bore gun as cause of injury. The ramrod was hurled on a trajectory of more than 20 m, breaking the victim’s shouldered barrel and hitting the victim resulting in severe abdominal, thoracic, and upper limb injuries. The critical incidents while handling muzzle-loading weaponry leading to premature discharge are elucidated. Furthermore, this report demonstrates how actual diagnostics and subsequent surgical treatment enabled this infantryman to survive an injury to which his comrades-in-arms would have succumbed 200 years ago.
- Subjects
PRUSSIA (Germany); GERMANY; MUZZLE-loading firearms; WAR casualties; BATTLES; ARM injuries; FELLOWSHIP; BARREL &; Beyond (Poem); SURFACE-to-surface missiles
- Publication
Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2009, Vol 54, Issue 2, p408
- ISSN
0022-1198
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00957.x