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#AskPracMed – How do I know if a puncture wound is serious?

On limbs and junctional areas (where arms and legs meet the torso) significant bleeding is the primary indicator of a serious puncture wound. The neck is another area where serious bleeding becomes obvious quickly. The most important area to assess carefully is the chest. Any penetrating trauma to the chest should be treated as a medical emergency regardless of how small the entry point looks — the damage behind the skin can be significant and may not be immediately visible. The same applies to the abdomen. If there is penetrating trauma to the chest or abdomen and there is internal bleeding, it is non-compressible and requires urgent surgical intervention.

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Simon Carkeek

Simon is a former NZDF Recon Operator and Patrol Commander with over a decade of service, including two deployments to Afghanistan, Solomon Islands peacekeeping, and humanitarian and disaster relief operations in Indonesia following the 2004 tsunami. Domestically, he responded to the Christchurch earthquakes and the Scotts Ferry floods. After service, Simon spent nearly five years in private contracting across Asia Pacific and the Middle East — working as a PSD Team Medic, Site Security Manager, and setting up medical clinics in austere environments where the nearest hospital was a long way away. He's a former action guy and a self-described meatball medic. He founded PracMed NZ because most first aid training wasn't preparing people for real emergencies. It still isn't, everywhere else.