SHRAPNEL TYPES: EXEMPLARS, WOUND ILLUSTRATIONS & X-RAYS OF VICTIMS

Shrapnel is a military term from the 1800s, originally named after a military officer, applicable to artillery projectiles that contained steel balls or grooved cast iron pieces; the projectile contents were designed to break up into flying fragments or splinters upon detonation of the round at the target. It has been extended to cover any hard materials attached to or embedded within an improvised explosive device, although it is more properly called “fragmentation”. It is intended to increase the casualties – dead and injured—to a greater distance than the blast effect alone, caused by the explosive charge.

Shrapnel may include such items, as short pieces of chain, screws, nuts and bolts, nails, fencing staples, broken glass, ball bearings, and irregularly shaped chunks of scrap metal.

Securesearch, Inc. manufactures inert training aids that often contain examples of shrapnel. Some of the training aids are pipe bomb simulants with external or internal shrapnel, suicide/homicide vests and belts, chest packs and back packs, and other items. We can add shrapnel to any item at the customer’s request. We also have photos of shrapnel wounds, and x-ray images of embedded shrapnel objects.