Tranquilizer Darts: Timing

Rhoda Nightingale · Jan 25, 2010

Not a "Character Death" thread for a change. (And by the way, this story isn't as violent as these threads are probably making it seem--just....action-packed, I suppose.)

I have two characters getting shot with tranquilizer darts, one in the throat, and one in the leg. With the probably highly stylized and inaccurate depiction I've seen of tranquilizers in the movies, the impression I get is that a dart to the neck makes your subject go down in seconds, and lose consciousness completely. One in some other appendage, again by my limited knowledge from questionable resources, seems to take a little longer, making the subject lose motor functions in that immediate area, which then spreads gradually to the rest of the nervous system, until they also lose consciousness.

At least, that was the assumption I was making while mapping out this particular scene, and I want see how far off that is. I guess my question is, what exactly are the effects of being shot with a tranquilizer dart, how long does it take for those effects to take hold, and also how long would the subject stay unconscious after getting shot?

Thanks in advance!

BillPatt · Jan 26, 2010

Drink too much=drunk. Tranked too much=trunk?

Trank darts inject the tranquilizer (usually some sort of barbituate) into wherever they land. In the neck, since it's so vascularized, it hits the bloodstream quickly and the vic is out in seconds.

If the vic is hit in an appendage, chances are it's in muscle, and it takes longer for the dose to get to the brain, hence a longer time for that bear wandering through the neighborhood to go beddy-bye.

Just a suggestion: you might want to change your verbiage.

making the subject lose motor functions in that immediate area, which then spreads gradually to the rest of the nervous system, until they also lose consciousness.

This would be true if the tranquilizing agent were some kind of depolarizing agent, like Succinylcholine. If you were using a mix of thiopental and diazepam in your dart, though, the vic would gradually just drift away to sleep. Loss of local control, if any, would not be noticable before onset of unconciousness. The trank load travels some in lymph, but mostly via the bloodstream, and not up nerve channels.

Hope this helps.

Libbie · Jan 26, 2010

I've only seen other animals tranked in real life, never humans, but in my experience a shot to the neck or the forelimbs-toward-head region will drop an animal much faster than a shot to the lower body.

Rhoda Nightingale · Jan 27, 2010

BillPatt said:
This would be true if the tranquilizing agent were some kind of depolarizing agent, like Succinylcholine. If you were using a mix of thiopental and diazepam in your dart, though, the vic would gradually just drift away to sleep. Loss of local control, if any, would not be noticable before onset of unconciousness. The trank load travels some in lymph, but mostly via the bloodstream, and not up nerve channels.

Hope this helps.

Yes, very much! So, it doesn't immobilize, it just brings unconsciousness at a slightly slower rate? That's fine--I can fix that easy. My only question is how much slower? Are we talking five minutes, or like thirty seconds?

BillPatt · Jan 27, 2010

Thiopenta, IV, drops you in a few seconds. Diazepam works pretty quickly, but I don't know what its timeframe is.

I would think intramuscular would take a few minutes to drop someone. But since I don't actually go around darting the neighbors (although I can name one I should), I am not really sure.

Fenika · Jan 28, 2010

Darts in the neck only drop you faster if they hit one of four major vessels in your neck, and I laugh b/c movies always show the characters getting hit in the nice meaty parts which is the same as getting hit in the shoulder really. It still works, and it can work damn fast, but a shot in the vessel works faster. It's just hard to pull off. And since most drugs are 'designed' and dosed to hit the muscle (your biggest chance of success with a dart) you can get in trouble by hitting a major vessel (like dead. Dead is bad). Of course, hitting a major vessel fully is unlikely since the tranq has to go the right depth in the right spot.

As an aside, fat absorbs VERY slowly, so someone getting shot in their rolly arse will go down slowly, may not experience the full effects, and will likely take a little longer to get clear of the effects.

As will all threads of this nature, you'll have to pick a drug. If you search, there's plenty about tranqs/sedatives plus or minus darts.

Rhoda Nightingale · Jan 29, 2010

Fenika said:
As an aside, fat absorbs VERY slowly, so someone getting shot in their rolly arse will go down slowly, may not experience the full effects, and will likely take a little longer to get clear of the effects.

As will all threads of this nature, you'll have to pick a drug. If you search, there's plenty about tranqs/sedatives plus or minus darts.

I didn't consider the recovery time taking longer as well--thanks for that!

*off to pick a drug*

Tranquilizer Darts: Timing

Rhoda Nightingale

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BillPatt

Libbie

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Rhoda Nightingale

Vampire Junkie

BillPatt

Fenika

Rhoda Nightingale

Vampire Junkie