Quote:
Originally Posted by platon20
Hello,
I am an ER/ICU doctor who just joined this forum. I wanted to comment on the hospital/medical angle here. Just from what I saw on the video, his injuries could certainly be fatal. The difficulty breathing you hear at the end of the video could be caused by several different things, either blood in his airway that he's having trouble clearing, or partial paralysis of the phrenic nerve from the neck stomp injury he sustained, leading to poor respiratory effort. Either way, if he came into my ER like that, I'd probably suction him out and possibly intubate him depending on how alert he is. Its an automatic ICU admission in my view.
I dont have any information about the specific hospitals in that area. However, I will say that back in the 1980s it was virtually unheard of for any hospital to have any kind of electronic medical record, so you'd have to go thru the archived paper records, which IMHO are probably destroyed at this point. Even the comprehensive electronic VA hospital record system, VISTA/CPRS doesnt go back that far.
At this point, victim identification is key. Until we can prove that this individual was killed in this vicious assault, the cops probably wont be able to pursue any criminal charges against the idiots reponsible.
I know you guys are already working on the media angle, has the local Dumfries area media taken this up at all? I think they are most likely to break the case in terms of victim identity. Anyways, my thoughts:
1) Try to find old doctors or nurses who worked at at a local hospital back in 1984 and see if they remember this guy--specifically we need ER personnel. I am willing to assist with this. Unfortunately I am not familiar with the area. But if someone can give me the name of any local hospitals that were around back then, I will try to write letters to the head of the ER staff and see if they know the name of an ER doctor that I can contact who was working back then.
2) Get the local news media to broadcast this guy's picture all over the airwaves, and hope that people from 1984 remember him. If he was homeless, he might not have any family contacts in the area, which will make finding his identity that much more difficult.
I am truly saddened by this video, its apparent towards the end that the victim is overwhelmed and panicked, trying to get the beating to stop. I hope we can find out who he is and put a name to his face.
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Thank you for your post. Your expertise and opinion is appreciated.
I am not a medical professional, and your opinion on the matter has its basis in experience and study, but I might ask you to consider one additional aspect of what your are viewing and ask if you might alter your opinion of the cause of the man's abnormal breathing.
As an ER doctor you may not have opportunity to see patients in the moments immediately following loss of conscious from either sharp blow, or from sudden impingement of blood flow to the brain. If you have a moment, please view the following video in its entirety and give your comments. Again, thank you for sharing your expertise.