Clyde C. Snow

IMPACT INJURIES IN PREGNANCY. I: EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES,

Abstract Eleven pregnant baboons were subjected to 12 experimental impacts. At the 20 g level of decelerative force, maternal injuries were minimal. Fetal death occurred in association with traumatic head injury, placental separation, and maternal shock. Although prevention of body flexion during impact did not prevent elevation of intrauterine pressure, fetal injury, or placental separation, the number of animals is too small to draw conclusions regarding the superiority of one restraint system over another. The lap belt should be worn by pregnant women, and it should be snugly placed across the pelvis and not over the fundus.

Identification of Serial Homicide Victims in the “Green River Murder” Investigation

The Green River Murder Investigation in King County, Washington, is currently the longest and most active serial murder investigation in U.S. history. To date, little information has been reported on methods used in identification of serial murder victims. In this paper, various methods used in victim identification are reviewed and difficulties encountered during the course of the investigation are described. The experience of the authors is presented in order to acquaint other agencies with problems of victim identification associated with these serial murder victims and to provide key methods that may be useful in other such investigations.

Impact injury to the pregnant female and fetus in lap belt restraint.

Although it has been well-established that the lap (seat) belt offers considerable protection against injury or death in crash environments, there has long been controversy over the injury potential to the pregnant female. This question is of importance in consideration of restraint and seat protective environments for both aircraft and automotive vehicles. Most of the four million pregnant women per year in the United States travel by automobile, with a large number traveling by commercial civil aircraft or the Military Air Transport Service. Thus, a sizable population is involved. This combined study by the Civil Aeromedical Institute, FAA, 6571st Aeromedical Research Laboratory, Holloman AFB, and the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine has been concerned with the clinical, experimental, and applied aspects. Tests utilizing pregnant baboons (Papio doguera) have been run on the Holloman AFB Daisy Decelerator, and clinical case histories have been obtained in automotive accidents involving late-term pregnant women through cooperation of the California and Oklahoma Highway Patrol and individual obstetricians. This paper outlines the medical evidence for concern and notes the experimental findings to date. THE LAP (SEAT) BELT offers considerable protection against injury in impact accidents, although little is known of its effects on the pregnant mother and her fetus (Ref. 1). In the United States, most women travel by automobile at one time or another during their pregnancy (Refs. 2, 8). A large number also travel as passengers in commercial or private aircraft and, as dependents, on planes of the Military Air Transport Service (Refs. 3, 4, 9). The present study was initiated to determine the effects of abrupt deceleration

Experimental impact protection with advanced automotive restraint systems: preliminary primate tests with air bag and inertia reel/inverted-y yoke torso harness

Abstract : Both the inverted-Y yoke torso harness with inertia reel and the air- bag restraint system have had extensive independent development for some time by several engineering and research organizations for both aviation and ground vehicle occupant protection. The research reported in this paper consists of the first biomechanical primate evaluation of these concepts as experimentally adapted for possible automotive use. These tests are a continuation of a study involving the relative impact protection and effectiveness of major restraint systems utilized in general aviation aircraft and in limited automotive use. The objective of this test series was to determine how much protection those advanced restraint concepts provided; to obtain preliminary biomechanical and physiological data; to identify problems of technique and applications in occupant protection; and to provide an initial basis for direction of future test requirements. Since over 60 tests of baboon subjects now have been conducted with various restraint systems under identically controlled impact conditions, valid relative assessments of the impact injury protection offered by these systems may be made. Conclusions of the relative value of these restraint systems for automotive use to protect occupants during impact are discussed from a biomechanical viewpoint.

Detection of bullet residue in bone using proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis.

External beam proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) analysis has been used to verify the presence of lead in the finger bone of a murder victim. The deceased, who had been buried several years, was known to have suffered a bullet wound to his right hand several years before death. X-ray radiographs of the right second proximal phalanx revealed the possible presence of metal fragments below the surface of the bone. To verify the presence of lead in a nondestructive manner, the bone was scanned with a 1.5-MeV proton beam. PIXE analysis showed that lead was present only in the vicinity of the fragments previously detected in the radiographs. A study of gunshot residue in bone shows that the distribution of lead around the bullet hole is independent of the firing distance for distances greater than 0.6 m.