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#AskPracMed – Why should I never pull out an embedded object?

Removing an embedded object can cause significantly more damage than leaving it in place. You don’t know what’s happening below the skin. If vascular tissue has been disrupted, pulling the object out can cause immediate and serious bleeding. The shape and profile of the object below the surface is also unknown, meaning removal could tear through tissue in ways that weren’t caused by the initial injury.

The only exception is when the object is in a junction space, is causing uncontrollable bleeding, and direct pressure around it is not achievable. In that case, removal may be necessary to allow wound packing – but this is the exception, not the rule.

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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.