Compendium of Helpful Writing Tips, Pt. 3
Blood is a helpfully macabre motif; a few things to consider:
Cut a vein and blood seeps; it's currently being drawn towards the heart. Cut an artery and blood is forced out of the wound; it's being pumped out from the heart. Arterial bleeding is bright and profuse. Venous bleeding is darker, and considerably more subdued. Either kind of bleeding is really scary.
Blood is frightening, for a very good reason: You have approximately five liters of blood in your body, that really ought to stay where they are.
There are a number of places where arteries come close to the surface: The carotid artery, (on the neck, below the jaw) the brachial artery, (under the arm, close to the shoulder) the radial artery, (on the bottom of the wrist) the femoral artery, (on the inside of the thigh) and the pedal artery (on the front of an ankle). It's possible to take someone's pulse from any of these points, although it's slightly more difficult to check the femoral, brachial, or pedal artery for a pulse, than it is to check the carotid or radial artery. It might be important to note that the carotid artery, being closer to the heart, will still register even when the radial artery does not. If you have a character who's medically trained, they would check the radial artery first, then the carotid, but only if they failed to find a pulse at the radial artery. Applying pressure to an artery can help abate blood flow downstream of the pressure point.
As mentioned before, arteries bleed a lot. If you want to make a simple trauma not so simple, arteries are your friend. The above mentioned arteries are close to the surface, where a less violent injury could puncture them; unlikely, but entirely possible. Where violent injuries are concerned, gunshots and traumatic amputation, any of the arteries are at risk. If a character has their arm cut off, it's going to bleed.
Head injuries bleed a lot, too. There's a lot of capillaries in the scalp, and they're all very close to the surface. A laceration or a bad scrape will cause comparably profuse bleeding. More serious injuries to the head and neck, a concussion, or damage to the cervical spine, might not cause any bleeding whatsoever. Blood is frightening, and it's also distracting. Bleeding can make an inconsequential injury look serious, or it can make a simple injury very serious indeed.
Also: Exsanguination is a fancy looking word that sounds fantastic; it means bleeding to death.
Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or an EMT so you really, really shouldn't take this as actual medical advice; this is purely in the interest of fiction, where nobody's life is at stake.
Cut a vein and blood seeps; it's currently being drawn towards the heart. Cut an artery and blood is forced out of the wound; it's being pumped out from the heart. Arterial bleeding is bright and profuse. Venous bleeding is darker, and considerably more subdued. Either kind of bleeding is really scary.
Blood is frightening, for a very good reason: You have approximately five liters of blood in your body, that really ought to stay where they are.
There are a number of places where arteries come close to the surface: The carotid artery, (on the neck, below the jaw) the brachial artery, (under the arm, close to the shoulder) the radial artery, (on the bottom of the wrist) the femoral artery, (on the inside of the thigh) and the pedal artery (on the front of an ankle). It's possible to take someone's pulse from any of these points, although it's slightly more difficult to check the femoral, brachial, or pedal artery for a pulse, than it is to check the carotid or radial artery. It might be important to note that the carotid artery, being closer to the heart, will still register even when the radial artery does not. If you have a character who's medically trained, they would check the radial artery first, then the carotid, but only if they failed to find a pulse at the radial artery. Applying pressure to an artery can help abate blood flow downstream of the pressure point.
As mentioned before, arteries bleed a lot. If you want to make a simple trauma not so simple, arteries are your friend. The above mentioned arteries are close to the surface, where a less violent injury could puncture them; unlikely, but entirely possible. Where violent injuries are concerned, gunshots and traumatic amputation, any of the arteries are at risk. If a character has their arm cut off, it's going to bleed.
Head injuries bleed a lot, too. There's a lot of capillaries in the scalp, and they're all very close to the surface. A laceration or a bad scrape will cause comparably profuse bleeding. More serious injuries to the head and neck, a concussion, or damage to the cervical spine, might not cause any bleeding whatsoever. Blood is frightening, and it's also distracting. Bleeding can make an inconsequential injury look serious, or it can make a simple injury very serious indeed.
Also: Exsanguination is a fancy looking word that sounds fantastic; it means bleeding to death.
Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or an EMT so you really, really shouldn't take this as actual medical advice; this is purely in the interest of fiction, where nobody's life is at stake.
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