I Missed A Gunshot Wound

I’m an ER doctor. A guy was dumped off at the ER covered in blood after a rap concert. We were all focused on a gunshot wound with arterial bleeding, that it was distracting. The nurse placed the blood pressure cuff over the gunshot wound on the arm. We all missed it because the blood pressure cuff slowed the bleeding.

I was doing the secondary assessment when we rolled the patient, and I still missed it.

We didn’t find it till the chest x-ray. The bullet came of rest in the posterior portion of the thoracic wall without significant trauma to major organs.

The patient lived. But I still feel like I fucked up big time.