Injuries that crush the chest and abdomen are common in automobile accidents. These types of injuries occur as the driver's body compresses against the steering wheel. Wearing seat belts dramatically reduces the incidence and severity of crushing injuries in these accidents. Breathing injuries occurring because of trauma to the chest, lungs, heart and airway can be life threatening. Immediate first-aid treatment is critical, especially if the injury is a wound that has penetrated the chest wall.
Choking
An object accidentally inhaled may become stuck in an airway. If it cannot be coughed out and it lodges in the trachea, it could cut off the air supply, warranting immediate medical attention. Sometimes an inhaled object passes farther down the respiratory tract and lodges in a small airway in the lungs. When this happens, the object does not interfere with breathing, but can eventually cause pneumonia or a lung abscess.
Penetrating Chest Wounds
The pleura, a double-layered membrane, keeps the chest cavity tight by surrounding the lungs and covering the inner chest wall. If air enters the space between the two layers of the pleura a condition known as pneumothorax occurs, causing a collapsed lung. Penetrating wounds to the chest can cause air to enter the pleura, leading to a pneumothorax. Penetrating chest wounds can cause rib fractures; ends of fractured ribs may penetrate the pleura or lungs. In a person with a penetrating chest wound that punctures the lung, breathing may result in air flowing in and out of the wound rather than the lungs.
Spinal Cord Injuries
A blow to the head, neck or back may interfere with the body's process of respiration, causing breathing to stop. According to MedlinePlus from the National Institutes of Health, respiratory symptoms range from breathing difficulties to the total cessation of breathing due to paralysis of the muscles necessary for breathing. Without immediate airway control, or artificial ventilation, brain damage or death can occur within a short time.
Automobile Accidents
Forceful contact with the steering wheel can cause fractures of the ribs or damage to the lungs, heart and major blood vessels or other internal structures. Many drivers are injured when they are propelled forward into the steering wheel in a collision. This can cause severe chest trauma, which will substantially impede breathing. When an airbag fails to inflate, the chest takes the full brunt of the steering wheel, potentially causing fractured ribs, collapsed lungs and crushed windpipes.
