When
• Gun shot wound = 3 syllables, and
• GSW = 5 syllables
We abbreviate to shorten, not lengthen.
Easier to write. We spend 5 minutes talking about you at handoff (and I need to write down everything AS the other person is talking) then I have to write a mini essay about each person by morning. Abbreviations are highly specific to specialty (ROM = “range of motion” in most specialties but “rupture of membranes” in obstetrics), but much easier than writing things out. An example from my specialty might be:
SI / attempt r/o. BIBA GSW LA + lig marks neck (suspect DV but pt denies). WC placed, CT (-). Hx DM2 diet managed.
Which is to say
Ruling out a suicide attempt. The ambulance brought them to the ED for a gunshot wound to the left arm and strangulation marks on the neck. We’re pretty sure the spouse did it but the patient is refusing to talk about how it happened. The wound consult is in and they did a CT of their neck already, no severe injury noted. History of diabetes, but it’s type 2 and managed by diet (as opposed to insulin).
…which is like 3 times as long.
You can yell GSW across a crowded room and not cause a panic like yelling “GUN SHOT wound” might.
I’d think that in an emergency room, it wouldn’t be that out of place to cause panic.
Hospitals and ambulances do a lot of handwritten reports. In a conversation, the nurse/doctor/paramedic will say ‘gunshot wound’ but write it GSW.
Worked in public health and never heard anyone say ‘GSW.’
Could be that it’s a TV only thing. Been binging a lot of medical dramas lately.
New season of The Pitt coming out this week I think
Tomorrow. I’m stoked.
It’s quicker to write/type the abbreviation, so syllables don’t matter. Most common example of more syllables in the abbreviation than the words themselves is “WWW” (9 syllables) for “World Wide Web” (3 syllables). Quicker to type but longer to speak.
I saw Stephen Fry suggest once that it be pronounced “Wuh Wuh Wuh” which I kind of like :-)
Dub dub dub.
Gee ess dub dub sounds like a burger joint menu item.
G S Dub.
It’s also shorter to write.
Abbreviations aren’t just used to make a word quicker to say or write, but also to obfuscate.
Depends on the language you use. In the Netherlands W is pronounced as “wae” instead of “double you”.
Just pulling this out of my ass, but perhaps it’s an artifact from handwritten medical charts. GSW is shorter to write.
it’s faster typed out as well. When I worked call centres, we’d shorthand all of our notes because we had 15-30 seconds to wrap up the final notes after the call ended, not to mention no agent wants to read a novel to get up to speed.
I dont know why GWS is used , but there are a bunch of the medical abbreviations that are not intuitive to me.
- PRN = As Needed
- ASA = aspirin
- BRP = Bathroom Priviledges (this one is intuitive)
- PT = Bloodtest
- bid = Twice a Day
- BS can = Breath Sounds or Bowl Sounds
- C with a “-“ on top of it means “with”
- M = so many things.
- PRN is an abbreviation of a Latin phrase “pro re nata”.
- ASA is acetylsalicylic acid which is the chemical name for aspirin
- PT is a specific type of blood test that measures how long it takes for blood to clot called “prothrombin time”
- BID comes from another Latin phrase “bis in die”. TID is 3 times and QID is 4 times a day
- BS can also mean blood sugar
- c̅ is basically equivelant to w/ meaning with but it comes from the Latin “cum”
I thought pt meant patient?
Or physical therapy. I’ve never seen either of the major clotting labs abbreviated “PT.” You typically say PTT for prothrombin time or INR for the PT-INR.
How are you pronouncing those words? I get 6 and 3 syllables respectively.
Gun ¹ Shot ¹ Wound ¹ = 3
G ¹ S ¹ W ³ = 5
The letter “w” is three syllables.
Double ² and U ¹
Wait until you learn about abbreviating the World Wide Web
Is that a hospital term I’m unaware of?
www as in www.website.tld means “world wide web”. Double-U double-U double-U uses 9 syllables when world wide web uses 3
Is this a stupid ai question?
My best guess is…. no, but you probably could have made it sound more human had you not bothered to ask to begin with.
