care for a slashed throat

rosehips

Mr. Boo is watching you.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 14, 2011
Messages
808
Reaction score
58
Location
Burgundy, France
Website
www.upwork.com
Researching this I think I have a good handle on the first aid that would happen. Occlusive dressing, gauze wrapped around opposite shoulder. Patient on their left side, feet elevated. Then what, though? Would a surgeon sew the artery closed?

The scenario is that a character gets slashed across the throat with a broken bottle. A person with her presses the wound with his hand for maybe two minutes. Then a kind of doctor (it's a fantasy world, no magic in this scene, though) shows up and performs the first aid steps described above. Then what?

Would it make more sense for the doctor to immediately try to sew her up? This doctor is the only medical personnel the character is going to see, to there's no waiting for an ambulance to take her to the hospital or anything.

Most medical equipment is available pretty much immediately as the wound happens in an infirmary (the slasher was a patient).

I hope that all makes sense.

eta: The artery is severed. There is supposed to be a moment (from the POV of the person who firsts puts his hand on the wound) that she might bleed out. In reality the doctor is right there so she's going to get medical attention immediately, but the spurting blood totally freaks out this other character.
 
Last edited:

cornflake

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
16,171
Reaction score
3,734
I'm sure an actual dr. will be along to answer but I have actually seen this happen! The dr on site (who was actually one of the first people to reach the person - the person himself had his hand up to his neck, which was spurting arcs of blood with each pulse of his heart) reached his hand in and pinched the vessel closed with his fingers and walked the guy to a medical area where I think he sewed it crudely closed and then they got in an ambulance. That or he just hopped in the waiting ambulance with his hand in the guy's neck. I don't recall. I do recall it was only like, seven stitches for the whole thing and he was fine, though they said if the dr. had not been wandering past as close as he was (he was supposed to be across the way), the guy may have died.

I don't, thus, know how well the bandaging and stuff would work, but wait for George or someone!
 

MaeZe

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 6, 2016
Messages
12,748
Reaction score
6,435
Location
Ralph's side of the island.
If it's only on one side, you can occlude the bleeding arteries/veins because the brain's blood supply is bilateral, meaning you can lose one side of the circulation and the brain will still be perfused by the Circle of Willis.
The arrangement of the brain's arteries into the circle of Willis creates redundancy (analogous to engineered redundancy) for collateral circulation in the cerebral circulation. If one part of the circle becomes blocked or narrowed (stenosed) or one of the arteries supplying the circle is blocked or narrowed, blood flow from the other blood vessels can often preserve the cerebral perfusion well enough to avoid the symptoms of ischemia.[4]

I have a gruesome story to share though, names are disguised though this made all the papers and broadcast news because the man murdered with my friend was a famous radio broadcaster. Wish there were spoiler tags here, sorry.

A nurse friend of mine was murdered, stabbed 180 times including having her throat slashed. While the asshole was tormenting her, another friend of ours called the house. The asshole picked the phone up and said something sarcastic before hanging up. The caller knew what was going on. She called 911 but didn't know the address, she gave the best description she could, the medics had trouble finding the house. In the meantime, her husband took off for the house and found the victim on the porch, bleeding out. He put her in the car and drove down the hill hoping to meet the aid car coming up. He asked her if the asshole had done it. This is the part I wanted to share. My friend put her hand up to close her trachea off in order to speak. She was able to say who it was.

We were all ICU nurses at the time. It was no surprise she knew to do that to speak. Sadly he got her to the hospital but they were unable to save her.

The other murder victim was found dead in the house. The asshole had hid in the garage and murdered him first, surprising him and slashing his throat. He hid the body in the basement and waited for my friend to come home before attacking her.

When the police arrived they found the asshole, he'd slit his wrists and lay in the bath. He was cold, the water was cold, the police thought he was dead but he moved. He got an aid car and was saved. He's now doing life without parole. But the asshole has taken to promoting his bullshit excuse that he was mentally ill with jealous rage. He thinks he can help other people who murder under the same circumstance.

No Asshole, jealous rage is not a mental illness.


[Sorry, it's upsetting to remember. Rant over]