Cuts, scrapes and gashes: How to handle wounds

[GlobalMod3]

Taken from Martial arts topic a quote from Blood_debt:
This has nothing to do with martial arts, but do people faint when slashed across the face? Almost bone deep. I have no experience with wounds whatsoever - except scabs, which I enjoy studying if on my knee. @_@

[Ganheim]

I'll have to check, but a cut that only goes to the bone (or less deep than that) most likely doesn't have the power to knock someone unconscious. Of course, I'm assuming the blow is from a sharp bladed weapon that is designed for piercing/slashing, not something like a hammer.

Of course, it depends on the person's pain tolerance. If the person on the receiving end has no ability to withstand pain, it may not take much to make them faint.

[slizziechan]

Yeah, it depends.

for exp: I had a splinter shoved under a nail bed on my finger. My dad took a fine wood file and filled the nail down to the nail bed (filing up and down the point of the file pointed toward my hand, the edge on the top of my nail) and I had no pain killer, and did not faint.

And a nother time I had stiches with out pain killer, it hurt like heck, but I didn't faint or feel faint. it all depends.

my sister slamed her hand in the van door and went into shock.

[narrizan]

unfortunately i fell off a horse once (thankfully i was not alone), it had been going full tilt and for some reason stoped short...very suddenly so i was thrown over the horse straight into a tree and was out like a light for a couple of minutes and although i had my helmet/riding hat on i had manage to gash my cheek pretty bad but once i regained consciousness i was ok to carry on. just a little shaken and didn't really feel any pain as such. although i think the faint was more from hitting my head on the tree as opposed to blood loss.

so yeah if a slash is from a sharp but not heavy you are probably ok to go on..but if you get a hit with something that is heavy as well it is bound to knock you out a bit.

then again i'm can be a little strange....when i get seriously hurt, as one does wielding a stick, or a two handed sword (even with padding it sometimes does happen)...i sort of crack up and laugh. just a get well quick defense mechanism i guess. and after a few minutes you don't feel anything.

^__^.

[Ganheim]

I've got a few friends who are going into the medical profession, so I've been getting some unintended education in this area. That and they have some great stuff on Law & Order.

Apparently, a blunt blow to the head that is severe enough to cause unconsciousness will also most likely cause brain damage (even if minor), and "contusions" (basically bruising of the brain) which can lead to even more serious complications.

[narrizan]

Hello there...I saw a post on lj the other day which I thought would be relevant here...and thought I would share

gilliotina.livejournal.com/25116.html?view=84764#t84764

It deals with a gunshot wound and references to such things as a collapsed lung...

Using the scene where Sanzo shoots Gojyo during the Chin Issou 'Seed' incident..and 'What if Hakkai was not a healer?'

Oh dear...the series would have been very short indeed! ^_^

[Ganheim]

narrizan said:

It deals with a gunshot wound and references to such things as a collapsed lung...

Since I've just recently taken a course in combat lifesaver, I thought I'd add a little to this (having read the article).

I liked the fact that the pleural space was recognized - this is extremely important and is often overlooked. Air or blood entering the pleural space is also why you want to leave a projectile in the chest, to minimize not only bleeding but also the passage of air into the pleural cavity. The problem with that cavity is that air can enter it from two places: either the puncture wound, or through the lung itself. That's why we're taught how to quickly find the mid-clavicular space above the third rib so we can execute a needle-chest decompression multiple times. That space is filling up, even if you seal it up completely there's still air leaking from the pierced lung.

However, the mechanism given for temporarily sustaining the lung seemed excessively complex in the article - granted, in combat most of these things aren't available to us and time as well as mobility is of the essence. A majority of the work is done in specialized hospitals elsewhere. In combat lifesaver, the exit wound (always the larger with bullets) is covered with an airtight material and fully sealed (generally we use a plastic square and tape on all 4 sides), then a similar airtight seal is placed on the entry wound, but only 3 sides are sealed. This allows air to escape while the chest is in normal collapse (exhaling), which forces air from the pleural space with minimal collapse of the; and when the chest is expanding the close plastic seal presses against the chest and prevents air from entering, acting as a one-way seal.

Well, I hope that aided somebody here.

---

"All get what they want, but they do not always like it." -- Aslan, The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

[gilliotina]

Ganheim- actually, you did. Probably more than you know. My POV is result of my work in a very peaceful, well developed region. And well aware that harder times may come, I'm quite interested in field medicine.

[narrizan]

So happy to see you here. Welcome! ;D ;D

And yes actually its good for reference...and I've said to gillliotina before...if I ever wanted to kill anybody off in a fic..from a GSW, I'd at least be able to make it sound halfway believable. ^__^

[Ganheim]

gilliotina said:

My POV is result of my work in a very peaceful, well developed region. And well aware that harder times may come, I'm quite interested in field medicine.

I understand, we don't tend to venture education-wise into areas that don't appear to have any immediate relevance, and I'm always willing to teach whoever is willing to learn. It will also help maintain my proficiency in field medicine if I'm going over it again and having a new perspective questioning it. You can use my email, too. I'm pretty good at responding.