…Trauma surgeons say stopping the bleeding and getting patients to hospitals quickly are vital.

“With penetrating trauma … the motto ‘scoop and run’ is what it’s about,” said Dr. Doug Paul, medical director of trauma services at Grant Medical Center. “The bottom line is that penetrating wounds put holes in things that need clamped, a stitch in them or a finger on them.”

Paul said even gunshot wounds to the heart no longer mean certain death.

“We’ve probably had six of those in the last 12 months who have gone out of here through the front door,” Paul said.

Still, the line between life and death remains razor-thin.

Read the full article at:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/01/20/more-gunshot-victims-survive.html