Death by anaphlactic shock

Tnonk · Aug 4, 2009

Hello everyone,
In my current WIP, I have to kill off a minor character following his survival of a plane crash.
The scene I have written has him among a group of survivors struggling after the crash. They make it to the beach and safety until he gets stung by a jellyfish.
The other survivors struggle to save him but have few means to help. The victim goes into anaphlactic shock quickly and begins to swell, constricting his throat and his ability to breath. He looses consciousness fairly quickly.
They attempt a crude tracheotomy in an effort to get air into his lungs, but in the end it isn't enough and he dies. Which is what I want for the poor soul.
My question is, based on what I've outlined, is it a viable death?
His death occurs in the 1st (or 2nd Chapter depending on how I break it down) so I need it to be believable.
I don't want to loose readers if I got some basic info on the nature and reactions of anaphalactic shock wrong.
I've done a search on it here but haven't found much.
Would it be better if I post the scene somewhere? I would welcome any responses and / or comments, but I was unsure if it would be allowed (or in which area?)
Thanks,
Adrian

semilargeintestine · Aug 4, 2009

A tracheotomy is a dangerous procedure that needs to be done by an expert in order to have a chance at being effective. If the jellyfish sting didn't kill him, the (attempted) trach most probably would.

Gary · Aug 5, 2009

My father-in-law died of anaphylactic shock from a tetanus shot a year ago last Christmas. Approximately 15-20 minutes after receiving the shot, he had difficulty speaking and began to swell. The ambulance arrived less than 10 minutes later, and by that time, his wife said he had collapsed, his eyes were swollen shut, and his watch band was barely visible. He was pronounced dead when they arrived at the hospital, some 30 minutes after the symptoms began.

We were never told if a tracheotomy was attempted by the EMT personnel. I doubt it was.

Swordswoman · Aug 5, 2009

Hi, Tnonk,

You might have better results with your searches if you looked for anaphylactic shock - or just anaphylaxis for the general symptoms. You're absolutely right that a jellyfish sting has been known to induce it - and death can occur within a very few minutes, even without an amateur tracheotomy (which, as semilargeintestine points out, would almost certainly be fatal. Even in controlled circumstances, a tracheotomy is not the recommended treatment - and I doubt many people without medical knowledge would even attempt to stick a knife in someone's throat in the hope of curing them. They're more likely to try artificial respiration or even CPR.

If your character is known to suffer from severe allergies of this type he might well be carrying epinephrine in some self-administering form or another. However, an overdose of that can kill too, and if his fellow passengers didn't know what they were doing they could easily achieve the same desirably fatal result.

I'm not a doctor or an expert, but there's everything you need on Google if you use the right search term as above.

Good luck!

Louise

semilargeintestine · Aug 5, 2009

Gary said:
My father-in-law died of anaphylactic shock from a tetanus shot a year ago last Christmas. Approximately 15-20 minutes after receiving the shot, he had difficulty speaking and began to swell. The ambulance arrived less than 10 minutes later, and by that time, his wife said he had collapsed, his eyes were swollen shut, and his watch band was barely visible. He was pronounced dead when they arrived at the hospital, some 30 minutes after the symptoms began.

We were never told if a tracheotomy was attempted by the EMT personnel. I doubt it was.

I'm sorry to hear that. I don't think EMTs are licensed to perform tracheotomies though. If they are, I think I'll drive myself to the hospital.

Tsu Dho Nimh · Aug 5, 2009

Tnonk said:
Hello everyone,
In my current WIP, I have to kill off a minor character following his survival of a plane crash.
The scene I have written has him among a group of survivors struggling after the crash. They make it to the beach and safety until he gets stung by a jellyfish.
The other survivors struggle to save him but have few means to help. The victim goes into anaphlactic shock quickly and begins to swell, constricting his throat and his ability to breath. He looses consciousness fairly quickly.
They attempt a crude tracheotomy in an effort to get air into his lungs, but in the end it isn't enough and he dies. Which is what I want for the poor soul.
My question is, based on what I've outlined, is it a viable death?

The swelling is seldom visible in anaphylaxis ... they get nervous, they start gasping for breath, they fall over and they die.

In the case of jellyfish, it's not anaphylactic shock, it's the toxin from the stingers on the tentacles causing cardiac arrest.

RJK · Aug 5, 2009

I'm surprised your word processor didn't pick up the misspelling of anapyhlactic. That would have been the first point where you'd lose a reader.

People do strange things when they're panicked, they may try a tracheotomy as a last resort. They probably saw it done on TV.

SilverBirch · Aug 5, 2009

The Book of Poisons: A Guide for Writers by Serita Stevens may be a good resource for you. I believe it has a section on poisonous critters, including jellyfish. It lists possible symptoms, reactions even antidotes for just about every poison known to man. I used it extensively for my MS when I needed to create a nasty plant-based poison. Hope it helps!

Beyond that, I agree with everyone else - when it doubt, go with Google.

ColoradoMom · Aug 5, 2009

Just about anything can cause an allergic reaction, so even though the jellyfish has a toxin, it is entirely plausable that the person was allergic to the toxin, and so even if this was not one of the more poisonous types, the reaction could happen.

Your description of the event sounds accurate.

Palmfrond · Aug 5, 2009

I can't see that a tracheotomy would do him any good, even if it were done by someone who knew what they were doing. The bronchial passages are just as swollen as his throat - no air is going into those lungs without drug treatment. Tracheotomies are for bypassing a local obstruction, like a swollen epiglottis or a foreign object.

semilargeintestine · Aug 5, 2009

Yes, but I think part of that is the people who attempted it were amateurs without any real medical knowledge. They probably would see it as a last resort to allow him to breathe somehow, when in reality it would just hurry along his death.

Tnonk · Aug 5, 2009

Thanks for all the replies.
In regards to the tracheotomy, it's not necessary for me to keep it in. Semilargeintestine & RJK mentioned that it was done as a last resort is basically correct, with no other options other than to watch him die.
I was not aware it would not be effective due to the swelling affecting the broncial tubes in the way palmfrond discussed, so I guess I need to get rid of it.
In regards to Gary & Tsu Dho Nimh's points about the swelling aspect - ie Gary mentions the eyes swollen shut & watch band was barely visible and Tsu mentions the swelling is barely visible. I imagine that both could be correct. I'll keep my characters swelling to a visible minimum with those points in mind.
I have to admit SilverBirch that I did not do a google search, and I KNOW google is my friend. The book you referenced is now in my notes.
I also have to admit to both Swordswoman & RJK that I didn't pick up the misspelling because I have not put it in my computer yet. I was in the process of transferring some notes & passages that I wrote at work into my notebook (yeh, I still hand write everything).
I did see that it noted the misspelling on this site but the correct spelling was not among those offered for some reason. I duplicated it tonight listing the word again as anaphlactic and only four words were offered in response. They are - 'anaphoric', 'prophylactic' (?), 'intergalactic' (??), & 'anapestic'. I knew it surely was not any of those, so I went my next best guess & missed the mark.
Thanks also ColoradoMom, I was hoping I was on the right track at least. I thought of the jellyfish because of a childhood incident I witnessed in the late 60's or early 70's vacationing at Galveston Beach. A young girl was stung and, even though I was young, it made an impression on me that I can remember even today.
Again, thanks everyone for your comments, I really appreciate them.

Adrian

Death by anaphlactic shock

Tnonk

semilargeintestine

BassGirl 5000

Gary

Swordswoman

Resilient and kind

semilargeintestine

BassGirl 5000

Tsu Dho Nimh

RJK

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

SilverBirch

I really should be writing

ColoradoMom

Palmfrond

cereal killer

semilargeintestine

BassGirl 5000

Tnonk