Burning and blasting

Question 1

What are the 3 stages of fire damage?

Answer 1

1. Pugilistic posture
2. Soft tissue modification
3. bone modification

Question 2

Hod does the bone change depending on the temperature of the fire?

Answer 2

• Low temp (200-700C): yellowish brown, darker yellow, black, translucent border > carbonised charring
• High temp (800C): dark gray, ligher gray/blue > calcination

Question 3

What is pugilistic posture?

Answer 3

• heat induced bending of limbs at joints
• smaller muscle groups move towards larger groups

Question 4

What is soft tissue modification?

Answer 4

soft tissue closest to fire is first to be modified

Question 5

What is bone modification?

Answer 5

changes in bone due to fire: colour change, cracking, warping, shrinkage

Question 6

How much will a bone shrink at <700C temps?

Answer 6

0-2%

Question 7

How much will a bone shrink at 700-800C temps?

Answer 7

1-3%

Question 8

How much will a bone shrink at >800C temps?

Answer 8

5-15% (as high as 25%)

Question 9

How is burning also a factor of time?

Answer 9

low heat + long time = high heat + short time

Question 10

What is cremation?

Answer 10

• high heat
• complete calcination of bone
• disintegrates to ash

Question 11

What is blasting?

Answer 11

product of mixed forces (compression, bending) and mixed mechanisms (high velocity projectile, blunt, sharp)

Question 12

What is primary blast trauma?

Answer 12

• barometric changes from the last blast wave
• affects hollow organs (lungs, eardrums, bowels)

Question 13

What is secondary blast trauma?

Answer 13

• penetrating fragments and shrapnel
• produces sharp, blunt, high velocity projectile trauma
• radiating and concentric fractures

Question 14

What are tertiary blast traumas?

Answer 14

• large objects falling onto body/ body thrown into large object
• results in comminuted fractures, butterfly fractures