Dog bite injuries

Aug 14, 2009 21:06

Setting: medieval England (1193 to be precise ( Read more... )

1100-1199, ~medicine: injuries (misc), ~animals: pets, ~middle ages

Leave a comment

ishara August 15 2009, 11:25:37 UTC
I've been present when a fairly big dog (a pit bull) mauled someone, so I can tell you that if the dogs teeth managed to get through the boot, there would be jaggedly ripped skin, lots of blood, gaping holes where the layers of flesh and sub-cutaneous fat would show though. There will also be considerable deep tissue bruising. It's pretty gory to be honest (don't click this link if you have a weak stomach).

It looks horrible at the time, and afterwards there will be extensive scarring - back in medieval times they didn't have plastic surgeons, so it will likely be something that's going to leave a nasty scar for life.

If she did manage to survive an attack by multiple trained attack dogs (unlikely, unless she had assistance) there is a high risk that she would die of infection as a result of being unable to keep the wound clean. There were no antibiotics in medieval times, and it was also safer to drink the wine than the water in terms of germs, so cleaning the wound would have to be done with boiled water, and even then it would be dicey.

As for the boots, I'm a medieval re-enactor, and I can tell you right now that at that time, it would be unlikely that she would be wearing boots as sturdy as cowboy boots, as the leather on the legs of boots was designed for flexibility - they'd provide about the same amount of resistance as jeans. Boots were also something that only rich people could afford.

So, in short, she'd be kinda screwed.

Reply

areteus August 15 2009, 13:28:29 UTC
Yep, tetnaus is a big risk from dog bites if not rabies or something similar.

Reply


Leave a comment

Up