Sprained or Broken?

Death Valley Magazine published an article recently on a field expedient method (the Ottawa Ankle Rules) for determining whether you have a sprained ankle or a fracture. Instructions and photos at the link. As the article notes:

In a wilderness survival or tactical environment how can you tell if you’ve sprained or broken an ankle? The distinction may seem minor, but the implications are dramatic.

In a wilderness environment it means the difference between wrapping the ankle and the patient can walk out, or immobilizing the limb and carrying the patient out.

Tactically, the distinction is the same, but instead of having another shooter, you have a casualty.

Check it out.