Medics have revealed Liam Payne was left with ‘injuries incompatible with life’ in the wake of his fall from a hotel balcony.
This chilling phrase is used by medical professionals to describe a casualty for whom there is no hope of resuscitation. They would therefore see the victim as dead and would not attempt any treatment.
Emergency workers said the One Direction singer, 31, suffered a fractured skull in his horror plunge from a third-floor hotel balcony in Argentina.
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Alberto Crescenti, chief of the Buenos Aires emergency services, said: “Our role was to head there quickly, give medical attention, and try to resuscitate him, but his injuries were incompatible with life.
“Based on what the team saw, there was apparently a cranial fracture and extremely serious injuries that led to his immediate death.”
The classification is used by the emergency services during triage, especially in mass casualty incidents like fires and natural disasters. This allows them to prioritise resources on patients who might be saved.
Training firm REAL First Aid explains: “Some injuries are not compatible with life, regardless of how prompt or effective their treatment.
“In a multiple casualty situation we do not get involved with treatment for these casualties as it diverts resources from seriously injured casualties who are more likely to survive if they receive prompt, effective treatment.”
(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
While the phrase can mean various things, it is normally used to describe four types of injury. The first is decapitation, where a person’s head has been completely separated from their body.
The second, according to REAL First Aid, is “massive cranial and cerebral disruption.” This refers to a horrific head injury, most often including an open skull fracture with visible brain matter.
The third is a “hemicorporectomy”, meaning a person’s torso has been cut in half, or a similar massive injury. And the fourth is “incineration,” meaning the victim has at least 95% full thickness burns.
A casualty can also have injuries not compatible with life if their body is decomposing, or has gone into rigor mortis. Medics will also consider hypostasis, a blue mottling seen after death, caused by blood pooling in the lower half of the body.
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