Gunshot wounds can cause serious injury, including severe bleeding, damage to tissues and organs, broken bones, paralysis and wound infections. Gunshot wounds to the torso can also be life-threatening, particularly if organs such as the heart, liver or intestines are struck. Gunshot wounds to the brain are the most lethal firearm injuries of all, with survival rates of just 10 to 15 percent, according to the American College of Surgeons.
Doctors say people are surviving critical gunshot wounds at rates of 30 to 40 percent higher than they were just 20 years ago. Much depends on the location of the injury, the speed of the bullet, how much blood is lost, and how fast the victim is transported to a hospital.
However, there is no question that regardless of the severity of the circumstances, a gunshot wound will cost you.
A Johns Hopkins study published a few years ago indicates that firearm-related injuries account for nearly $3 billion in inpatient and emergency care in the U.S. annually. Women - especially those ages 20 to 24 - are much more likely to suffer firearm injuries (probably due to incidents of domestic violence). Meanwhile, men are five times more likely to die a gun-related death.
On average, emergency department charges are about $5,250. Annual costs for inpatient treatment of gunshot wounds add up to about $96,000. In other words, a victim of a gunshot wound in Georgia can expect to she out more than $100,000 a year just in hospital costs.
Although much of the data and research on gunshot injuries focuses on emergency care, the reality is that those figures represent only a fraction of the billions spent for ongoing care and potential complications. Unfortunately, that $100,000 figure does not factor in the wages lost due to an inability to work during recovery. Further, it fails to take into account that the injured individual may never be able to return to the job they once had. Lastly, it fails to account for the ongoing costs of things like medication, physical therapy, occupational therapy, vocational counseling/career training, and mental health counseling.
Those who do not survive may leave behind children, spouses, or other family members they otherwise would have been financially supporting. Those individuals will grapple not only with the loss of the decedent’s income, but also the care, guidance, and support they would have been provided had their loved one lived.
As the Atlanta crime victim attorneys at Apolinsky & Associates LLC can explain, health insurance may cover a portion of those costs, but the exact amount will vary from patient-to-patient and according to the details of their plan. Those without health insurance could face crushing medical debt in the wake of a gunshot wound.