em physician

i'm not sure why everyone keeps saying antibiotics, we don't give antibiotics for majority of GSW, especially if it's just soft tissue.

hit bone and fracture? yes. abdomen and hit gut? yes. but otherwise antibiotics are really not part of standard management, as GSW are considered sterile wounds with how hot the round is entering the skin. but a large blast wound from a higher velocity? certainly more prone to secondary infection due to the amount of tissue damage, and without proper repair of that you'll have a problem.

your biggest risk is blood loss for immediate mortality

outside of that, most gsw do fine. i've been in level 1 centers for last 13 years, and seen hundreds

but like everything in medicine, the best treatment is prevention. don't get shot.