Paris Hospital Treats 'War-like' Injuries After Attacks

Following the attacks in Paris that injured over 350 people and took the lives of no less than 129 people, victims were taken by ambulances to different hospitals. The hospital doctors said on Sunday that the survivors had sustained injuries that would normally only be seen in war, says Yahoo!. Many of them were in deep shock.

Philippe Juvin, head of emergency services at Paris' Georges Pompidou hospital, said that the arrival of gunshot victims "felt like scenes from a war." According to Juvin, who has experienced working in conflict zones, including Afghanistan, victims were either rushed to operating rooms or intensive care after arriving with injuries he had only seen in combat zones.

Juvin also noted the eerie silence among many of the victims, which were in a deep state of shock. He said, "It is difficult to explain but many of the patients were silent when they arrived despite their injuries. It's not like in a movie when you see all the people crying. It's absolutely not the case. Patients arrived in ambulances and nobody spoke."

A Yahoo! report says that the Paris attackers shot the victims in the arms, legs, the chest, and the thorax using Kalashnikov assault rifles, which are usually loaded with 7.62-mm cartridges and have coatings intended for maximum damage.

Meanwhile, a surgeon from Lariboisiere hospital who asked not to be named, said that most of the victims "had through-and-through bullet wounds" and that "it was a horrible sight."

Doctors also said that the patients' state of shock seemed "as if they had been drugged."

One doctor recalled that a 30-year-old patient, whose liver got shot, only asked if it was serious.

Catherine, a nurse from St. Louis Hospital, described that night's events as "surreal" in a report by Daily Mail. She added that she had been overwhelmed with the staff's solidarity. "I prefer to remember this incredible wave of solidarity that I have seen: all the staff, the doctors, surgeons, nurses who spontaneously phoned to offer the support and come in the middle of the night...," she told Actu Soins.

"That night, I would hold that I was proud of my profession, my colleagues and my hospital," Catherine added.   

Plenty of gunshot victims are still fighting for their survival. According to doctors' predictions, even if the victims survive, most of them may suffer after-effects for a long time. The doctors also said that they may have to go through multiple surgeries.