Scalise undergoes third surgery since shooting

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: ABC News, via The Hill

Scalise undergoes third surgery since shooting
BY REBECCA SAVRANSKY - 06/15/17 12:32 PM EDT

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) underwent a third surgery on Thursday, after being shot Wednesday morning at a GOP congressional baseball practice in Virginia.

ABC News reported that Scalise went into surgery Thursday morning for a third procedure. As of Wednesday night, he was in critical condition.

NEW: Rep. Scalise went into surgery again this morning at @MedStarWHC, his third procedure since arriving yesterday, sources tell @ABC News.

Link to tweet

Scalise was one of five people wounded Wednesday morning when a shooter opened fire at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va., one day before the annual Congressional Baseball Game for charity.

He underwent surgery on Wednesday, but required additional procedures to mend significant internal injuries, including a broken hip and damage to internal organs.

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/house/337958-scalise-undergoes-third-surgery-since-shooting

---

* * * * *

Updated condition of Rep. Scalise. Please find the statement here:

Link to tweet

* * * * *

At the scene:

https://twitter.com/AlexandriaVAPD

[dhill926]

1. man...that's rough...

a lot of damage done.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. I hope he recovers to the greatest extent possible

Meanwhile, are any of his colleagues ranting about the cost of his medical treatment?

[angstlessk]

3. May he get well soon...glad HE has insurance, as his family will not be

bankrupted because of that insane asshole!

[Ligyron]

7. IDK, Trump and those other assholes may screw up even his healthcare yet.

[angstlessk]

8. May it be so!

[forgotmylogin]

4. How does one get great insurance like that?

Oh. He gets it free for being a politician. Nevermind.

[frazzled]

9. Politicians do not get their healthcare for free

They must choose an ACA plan (until the Republicans repeal that), and the government, as their employer, pays a good chunk of the premium. They pay the rest.

That's about the same for our employer insurance, though it's not through the ACA. And it's great insurance, which I'm sure would pay for 100% for the surgeries for a gunshot wound. Though neither of us has ever been shot, we did have to use it when my husband contracted cancer. The year-long multiple surgeries, hospitalizations, testing, chemo, etc. was 100% covered (since we have an HMO plan and everything was within network), except for copays for specialist visits and parking fees. I think our employee portion of the insurance premium is around $200 a month, which is an amazing bargain for people our age.

The dope on Congresspeople here:

What type of insurance do our elected representatives in Washington, D.C., have? Is it true that they're insured on the ACA exchanges now and that any repeal and replacement will affect them too?

Under the Affordable Care Act, members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate and their office staffs who want employer coverage generally have to buy it on the health insurance exchange. Before the ACA passed in 2010, they were eligible to be covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. (People working for congressional committees who are not on a member's office staff may still be covered under FEHBP.)

The members of Congress and their staffs choose from among 57 gold plans from four insurers sold on the DC Health Link's small business marketplace this year.

Approximately 11,000 are enrolled, according to Adam Hudson, a spokesperson for the exchange. The government pays about three-quarters of the cost of the premium, and workers pay the rest. They aren't eligible for federal tax credits that reduce the size of insurance premiums.

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/04/12/523335954/what-happens-to-a-congressmans-health-insurance-if-obamacare-goes-down

[forgotmylogin]

11. So Obamacare may be saving Scalise's life?

[frazzled]

12. Yup. /nt

[Doug the Dem]

5. I wish him a Full Recovery

Even though I'm now an agnostic, there are vestiges of my Christian upbringing which I agree with.

[Plucketeer]

6. Health insurance???

Who needs that? I wanna hear all the COOL stats on the guns 'n ammo used during the shootout! How's come more bystanders didn't break out their heat and join in the fray?

I better use this, cause there are some who think I'm serious.

[Ellen Forradalom]

10. Quelle horreur

Good lord, I hope he makes a full recovery.

This sort of political violence is utterly unacceptable.

[tenderfoot]

13. So happy that he doesn't have to worry about his health care costs

send my thoughts and prayers.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. Why a single gunshot to Steve Scalises hip could be life-threatening

Why a single gunshot to Steve Scalise’s hip could be life-threatening

By Lenny Bernstein June 15 at 1:24 PM

For those of us who experience gun violence via movies or television, the single bullet wound to the hip that House Majority Whip Steve Scalise suffered in a ballfield shooting Wednesday would seem less serious than what could have happened to him. After all, he wasn't hit in the head or chest, which can be immediately fatal. ... But even a single penetrating wound to the pelvic region, which is densely packed with blood vessels, organs and other structures, is extremely dangerous, according to trauma surgeons and emergency medical personnel.

According to MedStar Washington Hospital Center, the rifle shot to the Louisiana congressman's left hip “traveled across his pelvis, fracturing bones, injuring internal organs, and causing severe bleeding.” He went into shock and within hours had received many units of blood via transfusion and undergone two operations. He could require more surgery, according to the hospital. ... The pelvic area is home to the iliac blood vessels, which include major arteries that branch off the aorta, the main route that carries oxygenated blood to all parts of the body. Wounds to those vessels, large and small, cause fast, severe blood loss, which can set off a cascade of problems for surgeons trying to save a patient's life.

In fact, 30 to 50 percent of injuries to the main iliac vessels result in death, said Joseph V. Sakran, director of emergency general surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, who was himself shot in the throat after a football game about two decades ago when a fight broke out and someone fired into the crowd. ... “When you look at the main cause of death in trauma, it’s hemorrhagic shock,” he said. In other words, rapid blood loss deprives vital organs of oxygen and nourishment and affects the normal balance of bodily systems. The kidneys can shut down. Body temperature declines. The level of acid in the blood rises. Other systems begin to work poorly.

Even if doctors are able to quickly replace all the lost blood, the effect is not the same as having healthy circulation. Blood clotting — which is critical to stanching internal blood loss — simply doesn't work as well, explained Lynne McCullough, medical director for the emergency department of Ronald Reagan UCLA hospital in Los Angeles. ... “The more you bleed, the more blood we give you. The more blood we give you, it affects your ability to clot,” she said.
....

Lenny Bernstein covers health and medicine. He started as an editor on the Post’s National Desk in 2000 and has worked in Metro and Sports. Follow @LennyMBernstein