Does a head wound need to be fatal?

dimples73 said:

Okay i want to write the JFK assassination for a story but i don't want it to be fatal can a bullet graze the head with out being fatal. i need some help with this. also the throat wound JFK received as well how can i write that.
i want this to be realistic.

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Yes, a bullet can graze the skull without penetration -- depends on the angle of incidence.

The throat wound is also doable as far as non-fatal/life-threatening.

If you want to get into the gory details, try contacting your local Medical Examiner.

Get a copy of the current edition of Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support. Read the chapter on gunshot wounds. All the realism you can stand.

You can get resources for research here. If you want help with how to write the scene, you might like to venture into some of our other forums (e.g. brainstorming sandbox).

I've updated your thread title to be more descriptive. You'll find folks visit the threads more if they know what to expect.

Google can help you, too. Go to Google Scholar and research "head wounds" I just did and, yeah, what you are looking for is there.

Dimples, if you want help finding out what it would realistically be, you've been given it.

If you want help getting it written, stick around. Become a part of the community, and when you have enough posts, post the appropriate passages in Share Your Work.

If you want us to help you write it, you're in the wrong place.

Please, read the Newbie Guide. Read the stickies in Share Your Work. Contribute and become a part of the community.

Sounds like you're getting into Share Your Work territory.

You'll need fifty posts before you can put up a story for critique, but you can go there and write critiques of anyone's stories right now (great way to build your post count, get to know the people, and improve your own writing).

You've never heard of Gabrielle Giffords?

She was shot, in the head, the bullet went right through her brain and she lived.

Also look at Phineas Gage, a famous case where a metal rod went through a guy's head and destroyed his frontal lobe. He survived with 1800s medicine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabrielle_Giffords

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage

I had a guy walk into triage, sit down in a chair for his vital signs, and when I asked what brought him to the ER today he turned his head sideways. Half his face was shot off. He tried to kill himself and missed. He lived, I've seen him many times since then. He's not very pretty. And he was one of the few walk-ins that nearly made me pee my pants.
Yeah, lots of head wounds are survivable. Just consider what you need the character to look like later in the story. Hth

Dimples73, please read the newbie guide and this forum's FAQ before you post again. If you still fail to take the hint, I'll ask that your rights to post in this part if the forum be removed until you understand what we're telling you.

ebbrown said:

I had a guy walk into triage, sit down in a chair for his vital signs, and when I asked what brought him to the ER today he turned his head sideways. Half his face was shot off. He tried to kill himself and missed. He lived, I've seen him many times since then. He's not very pretty. And he was one of the few walk-ins that nearly made me pee my pants.
Yeah, lots of head wounds are survivable. Just consider what you need the character to look like later in the story. Hth

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I've worked in a couple of hospitals and in the SICU (Surgical ICU). I've seen several attempts to "swallow a bullet" miss and survive.

What the OP is talking about is certainly survivable, though much is dependent on what the medical tech level and how fast treatment can get gotten. Lincoln would've survived if he'd been shot in the 20th century instead of the 19th, after all.

Brain injuries are funny.

I've seen people survive with a handful of brain matter scooped out, and others Dead Right There from a tiny little clot no bigger than the head of a pin.

Necks contain a lot of vital stuff, but I've seen a guy shot through the neck with a .357 that managed to miss every important structure. It's your story. Decide what you want do have happen, then make it so.