Explosion Injuries
Explosion injuries are a variation of gunshot injuries. An explosive charge contains metal parts or is enclosed in a metal container that breaks up, e.g., a hand grenade; when it fractures metal objects, stones,or the like in the immediate vicinity, the fragments thrown off have an exceptionally great force that quickly decreases. When such pieces from an explosion hit a nearby body they can produce very severe damage.A small splinter of only a few millimeters in diameter can perforate the brainpan. When it penetrates the body, it bores a wound channel that can easily be mistaken for a bullet track. The energy in a fragment from an explosion decreases so rapidly that generally it is not able to penetrate the body. At close quarters, air pressure alone can cause fatal injury.
The fatal effect of an explosive charge is limited to the immediate vicinity; at a greater distance air pressure may cause injury from falling. Another way of committing suicide is to detonate dynamite in the mouth. The effect of such an explosion is generally that the head is torn away, while the skin of the black of the neck, with adhering bone and soft parts, is left on the neck. Suicide by explosion in the mouth can be carried out with nothing more than a blasting cap. In this case the injuries are to the throat and breathing organs.Generally, no damage is visible in the face; the lips and the skin of the face remain uninjured. Suicide has also been achieved by an explosive charge placed on the chest, in which extensive lacerations are produced.
The police officer should remember that wounds should be photographed, even when they are on a living person. The officer should therefore try to contact the doctor who has treated an injured person in order to discuss the possibility of photographing. This should not be delayed too long because a wound changes its appearance as it heals or is altered by therapy. Especially in the case of bite wounds and wounds of which the form reveals the characters of the weapon or instrument, it is important that photographing should be done before a scab forms or an operation becomes necessary. A scale should always be laid next to the wound.