Ruptured Lung

[trackmagic]

A few hours ago I watched my neighbor's dog run across a busy street and get hit by a car.

I calmed her down so she would not move the dog in case it had a broken neck (I had no indication that it did). I could see the dog was bleeding foamy pink blood out of its mouth. I am pretty sure it had a ruptured lung.

We loaded the dog into the back of her minivan and she drove to try and find a vet. It was about 8pm and I doubt she had any luck (I do not know the status of the dog).

Obviously getting medical help in this situation is very important, but is there any first aid that could be done if you suspect something has a ruptured lung? It bled about a cup of this blood in the 5-10 minutes it took to get everything under control and load the dog in the van.

A human that suffers from chest trauma could have the same thing happen and I realize I have no idea if there is anything I can do to try and help this situation whether it be a dog or a person.

Is there anything to do here?
Does pink/foamy blood coming out of the mouth sound like a ruptured lung?

[FL2011]

Doesn't sound like much you can or could have done. Foamy/blood coming out of his mouth could be any number of things. At least in the human world it's not one of the usual indications of a pneumothorax but from the mechanism of injury it's certainly possible he could have one among many other injuries from blunt trauma.

[onado2000]

scoop and get to vet asap. as far as neck/spine injury goes, the dogs respiratory system takes priority.

[chuckman]

ALS...Accelerator Life Support. Like a human, the dog didn't need first aid, it needed surgery.

[Heavy Metal]

You won't find a vet at this time, look in your yellow pages for an animal hospital.

[trackmagic]

Yeah I figured that was the case, but for future reference I figured it was worth asking if there was anything that could help.

She told me she was going to the vet and I asked if they were open. She was crying and said she did not know and immediately got in her van and drove off. In hind sight I should have had her stick around and let me search the internet for a 24 hour vet hospital in town.

I have not asked about the dog. I am 90% sure the vet was not there and therefore I am 90% sure the dog did not make it. Its sad, but it happens.

[Hmac]

Pink froth at the mouth definitely indicates significant trauma somewhere in the airway, human or canine. It would usually mean injury to the lung, with associated rupture of a bronchus. And usually, a chest injury that severe has other injuries as well, the most worrisome being to the major vessels of the chest.

Pink froth could be associated with a minor pulmonary injury, but not usually.

[Hizzie]

Treatment = Diesel bolus

Sounds like paper bag syndrome.