I was always curious as to the amount of "damage" that a person wearing a bullet-proof vest will suffer.  Even if the bullet doesn't penetrate, its got to fell like someone nailed you with a baseball bat.  Any LEOs been shot with one on?

I once took two .357 in the back while wearing my Second Chance - I would up with four cracked ribs and on the "light duty" roster for a while...

Still, I was able to keep my feet (barely - almost faceplanted) and return fire.

Encounter range - about 20 feet.

FFZ

Bear in mind that I have only ever actually BROKEN one bone (in my left hand) and these were just CRACKS - and I didn't even bruise badly when once hit by a full-size work van!

FFZ

If the vest is successful in stopping the projectile then the pt is treated for blunt trauma (like being in a car accident). You can still suffer fractures, contusions, hemorrhaging and bleeding from the impact of the projectile striking the protective covering and then transferring the energy into you thru the protection.

I wonder if Gecko45 can shed any light on this?

While the vest will save the wearer the trouble of a penetrating injury it will still allow the bullet to transmit large amounts of kinetic energy(read that blunt trauma)to the body. The amount of the KE transmitted to the body obviously depends on the bullet type, vest type, angle of impact trajectory of the bullet and the wearers body type. With blunt trauma you can have a lot of injuries, such as:

ruptured/fractured spleen or liver
ruptured hollow organs(ie stomach, large/small bowel)
internal bleeding from ruptured vascular structures
pneumothorax(popped lung)
broken bones/ribs(as was mentioned by FFZ)
contusios
pericardial tamponade, the sac surrounding the heart fills wiith blood, impinging upon the heart's ability to refill with, and effectively pump blood

There's so many more,but that's a general idea.


Sherm

If you order the Second Chance brochure packet, they send out a book with several hundred documented cases of people being shot with their vests on.  There are several pictures and descriptions.

About three years ago these two Portland, Or police officers were shot and killed by a guy with an SKS. Both were wearing vests and it was determined that the vests increased the wounding power of the FMJ ammo that the shooter was using. The vests trapped the bullets upon exit from the tissue and redirected the eneergy back into the body from the exit wounds. I remember the media interviewing some gun shop owner and the anchorwoman asked if the "super deadly HP ammo was a factor in the killing" the owner responded that the cops would have been better off with the HP ammo because the vests would have been more effective.

Karl