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"Evolution
of Weaponry"
The
Role of Weapons' Evolution in Domestic Violent Crime
Advances
in Medical Effectiveness
Since 1957 in the US, the per capita aggravated assault
rate (which is, essentially, the rate of attempted murder)
has gone up nearly sevenfold, while the per capita murder
rate has less than doubled. Vast progress in medical technology
since 1957 to include everything from mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,
to the national "9-1-1" emergency telephone system, to medical
technology advances is the reason for this disparity. Otherwise
murder would be going up at the same rate as attempted murder
(Table II).
Furthermore, it has been noted that a hypothetical wound
that 9 of 10 times would have killed a soldier in World
War II would have been survived 9 of 10 times by US soldiers
in Vietnam. This is due to the great leaps in battlefield
evacuation and medical care technology between 1940 and
1970. And we have made even greater progress since 1970.
Thus it is probably a very conservative statement to say
that if today we had 1930's level road networks, evacuation
vehicles, communications, distribution of medical care,
and medical technology (no penicillin, etc.), then we would
have 10 times the murder rate we currently do. That is,
attempts to inflict bodily harm upon one another would result
in death 10 times more often.
Consider,
for instance, some of the quantum leaps in medical technology
across the years. Just a century ago, any puncture of the
abdomen, skull, or lungs created a high probability of death.
As did any significant loss of blood (no transfusions) or
most large wounds (no antibiotics or antiseptics) or most
wounds requiring significant surgery (no anesthetics, resulting
in death from surgery shock). Also consider the increasing
impact of police methodology and technology (fingerprints,
communications, DNA matching, video surveillance, etc.)
in apprehending killers, preventing second offenses, and
deterring crime.
Each
of these technological developments, in their place and
time, should have negated the effects of weapons evolution
and saved the lives of victims of violence. When assessing
violent crime across any length of time we could and should
ask what proportion of trauma patients survive today and
what proportion of those would have died if they had: 1940s-level
technology (no penicillin), 1930s-level technology (no antibiotics),
1870s-level technology (no antiseptics), 1840s-level technology
(no anesthetics), or 1600s-level technology (no doctors,
no anatomical knowledge, etc.).
TABLE
II: Landmarks in the Evolution of Medical Lifesaving
| ca.1600 |
French army institutes first scientific,
systematic approach to surgery |
| ca.1840 |
Introduction of anesthesia overcomes surgical
shock |
| ca.1840 |
Introduction in Hungary of washing hands
and instruments in chlorinated lime solution reduces
mortality due to "childbed fever" from 9.9 to .85% |
| ca.1860 |
Introduction by Lister of carbolic acid
as germicide reduced mortality rate after major operations
from 45 to 15% |
| ca. 1880 |
Widespread acceptance and adaptation of
germicides |
| ca. 1930 |
Sulfa drugs |
| ca. 1940 |
Penicillin discovered |
| ca. 1945 |
Penicillin in general use and ever-increasing
explosion of antibiotics thereafter |
| ca.1960 |
Penicillin synthesized on a large scale
|
| ca.1970 |
CPR introduced on wide scale |
| ca.1990 |
9-1-1 centralized emergency response systems
introduced in U.S. on wide scale |
Note:
Dates generally represent century or decade of major, large-scale
introduction.
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