Despite the rise of gun violence around the country, few medical guidelines exist on removing bullets from survivors’ bodies. Some of the survivors of the Chiefs championship parade shooting on Feb. 14 still live with the bullets that struck them them that day.
In the second installment in a series of features from KCUR and KFF called "The Injured," Peggy Lowe and Bram Sable-Smith spoke with those survivors, along with a trauma doctor. Lowe told Up To Date that it is common practice for doctors to leave bullets in survivors' bodies, prioritizing urgent life-saving measures over long-term effects.
"They're just going to stem the bleeding, they don't want to cause any more trauma," Lowe said. "They want that person to be in there the least amount of time in the operating room... because of other possible problems. So it's basically, as one trauma surgeon told us, it's 'war medicine.' They just get these people in, save their life and get them out."
- Peggy Lowe, KCUR investigative reporter
- Bram Sable-Smith, KFF Health News Midwest correspondent
