Twokinds ARCHIVE Forums

I have a question, and this forum is my best chance of getting a good answer.

Can anyone tell me what would be the immediate effects of a sword wound going from the right shoulder to just under the left arm and what to do to stop the person who receives it from dying immediately? I know most of you aren't doctors, but there are some of you who are probably intelligent enough to make an educated guess. Or have actually absorbed something from a first aid course.

I'm open to any answer. Tell me if there's shock, or infection, or anything. I just need to know.

Less forum more HOSPITAL.

CALL THE [CENSORED] HOSPITAL RIGHT NOW .

Front? Back? Depth? Sharp sword? Dull sword?
O.o

Really, the mortality rating of a wound like that would be extremely slim with no professional aid to quickly stop the internal and external bleeding. The only thing to do is get a cold wash cloth or shirt to absorb the external bleeding and keep a good amount of pressure applied at all times. There is really little else simple first aid can do to treat such a grave injury other than to get immediate professional help.

Let's assume this is for a story, and not for, uh, practical reasons.

There's going to be shock. You can pretty much assume that for any serious wound.

First step in keeping said person alive: Do not remove the sword. Doing so will cause any blood vessels currently severed but blocked by metal to instead spew precious blood out of the body.

Now, how about more detail about the sword wound and it's extent? It's through the ribcage? Can you give us a rough diagram? I'm not sure I can picture the wound well enough in my head.

You're going to get close to taking out pulmonary arteries, and that's bye-bye birdy. In addition, there's serious risk of hitting a lung -- best case there is that the lung collapses; more likely is that the person starts to bleed out into their lung and begins a process of drowning in their own blood. And that's assuming it misses the brachial tubes.

Without surgical or magical aide (assuming such things are available), internal bleeding is going to be a serious, and probably fatal, problem for the injured party.

Hammer on the nail there more or less. Like I said, very slim mortality rate with no professional assistance.

I honestly doubt he's sitting there bleeding to death waiting for replies on a forum. I hate to burst bubbles but most peoples' first reaction to seeing a blade injury is to call 911. Logging onto the TwoKinds Forum is not exactly my first line of emergency assistance.

Who said we were taking this literally?
;3

If the cut was along the back, instead of the front, then you have less problems, the back being more-or-less concave...if you avoid the spinal column, you'll just have muscle trauma/blood loss to deal with...
:3

Absolutely, Moddex.

Wow, it's weird to refer to a collapsed lung as "best-case."

I think Moddex had it originally -- the injured party will bleed out, probably within a few minutes, unless it's a very thin sword and they were very very lucky. Even then, they're in serious trouble without some medical aid. The upper chest is filled with things that don't like being injured, which is why we've got a ribcage. Touch the liver: bleed out in minutes, touch the lungs or brachial tubes: drown in your own blood or asphixate as air leaks into your chest cavity and prevents you from taking full breaths, touch the spine: instant paralyzation or death, touch the heart or pulmonary arteries or major veins (don't know what they're called off the top of my head): bleed out in seconds. If the sword is left in the wound and not touched, you might get a few more minutes as it stops up the bloodflow. You need medical assistance immediately. Gut wounds are incredibly painful but potentially survivable -- upper chest injuries have a much lower survival rate, especially for something so large as a sword wound.

Well in that case I just got kicked in the jollies by a 15-hand thoroughbred, what do I do, :P

Block the wound with everything you can find. You do not want blood going everywhere. That, or just drive straight to the hospital.

Hmm, well from what I know infection would only be a problem if the person actually survived the initial blow and was going to see another day or two.

Your biggest worry in that kind of a case would be if the weapon struck anything vital (lots of VERY important things are in that general area that connect your brain to the rest of you) if you have hit anything like that chances are they are going to die. (spinal cord major veins and arteries and depending on the angle any problems you might get in the chest region etc)

The next problem you are going to have is bloodloss... even if you haven't hit a major blood highway the bloodloss from that kind of injury will be enormous, your best bet is any sort of cloth to at least slow the loss of blood. (sort of depends on the weapons as some weapons are designed to let blood move past them and out of the wound so you can retrieve the blade from your felled opponent where as some will actually work to keep the injury sealed)

Shock is going to be a problem but you are going to have to deal with the previous two first I think. for shock you are just going to have to watch them and make sure the problems don't deteriorate. your best bet here (if you have made it this far) is to bring medical attention to the person... attempting to move them could cause the blade to move and you could hit anything that was spared or could even cause damage if bone was hit (basically moving the shattered bone about and tearing up more internal systems) the medical professional will decide if and how to move the person.

EDIT*** whoa, Avwolf beat me to it.... guess I take forever lol

Make sure to shampoo the carpets before you go!

Kiss your hopes of having grandchildren goodbye, get some ice and go to the hospital.
XD