Comments | little_details: Jumping off a bridge (with supports)...injuries and recovery process?

calamitysanity in little_details

Jumping off a bridge (with supports)...injuries and recovery process?

Jun 26, 2016 00:13

Setting: [Cold War era, fictional country] Isaac, a 20-30 something physicist is being chased down after doing something that he wasn't supposed to do. He knew beforehand that the possibility of getting caught/something going wrong was high, so he planned to jump off the bridge into the deep, moving river. However, knowing the physics behind it, ( Read more... )

~medicine: drugs, ~medicine: illnesses to order, 1950-1959, ~medicine: injuries: head injuries, 1960-1969

Comments 6

thekumquat June 26 2016, 09:13:08 UTC

If he's capable of movement and travel, he's clearly breathing, not bleeding to death, and no need for ICU. Whether he'd end up in a hospital is questionable - is there free healthcare in this country? Does your plot need a hospital? He could end up in a doctor's surgery and have morphine there, just injected. He'd get very relaxed and sleepy over a few minutes but panic wouldnt be unlikely in the circs.

I dont see why he would end up on a drip, though American TV shows seem to put people on them as soon as they go to hospital with a cut finger...

He could have lots of cuts and injuries and maybe internal bleeding thatndidnt show up immediately, perhaps a ruptured spleen, and also some broken bones where walking has aggravated the injury, say a broken foot and cracked pelvis, so he'd be in hospital for a while if you wanted.

Thank you! calamitysanity June 26 2016, 13:42:22 UTC

Thanks for your reply!

The plot needs a hospital setting. My character was running away from an extremist political group set to destroy him (not kill him....maybe lock him up, make him a puppet for their movement) but a rebellion movement shut down the government. As a result, there was a battle, the hospital (run by the government) was shut down, and the people scrambled to assemble a medical center. When he comes back to society, maybe a week has passed, but the makeshift-hospital stays open as the people rebuild.

I started writing a draft last night. He's currently scheduled for: Broken ribs, ruptured spleen, severe ankle sprains, maybe a concussion? Seems pretty on par with what you're suggesting :)

What would justify a morphine drip? I'm imagining he's going to be in a lot of pain from a lot of things.

RE: Thank you! marycatelli June 26 2016, 18:57:04 UTC

When I went it for major surgery, I didn't get a morphine drip. I got a thing that I had to push to get a dose of painkiller, which I could use only five minutes. (And which gave no indicator that it was working, so I often pushed it twice in a row to get the second "beep" saying it was too soon, and also had no time indicator so I was dependent on watching the clock.)

May have been a newfangled thing, but perhaps if he was unconscious?

anonymous June 27 2016, 10:06:50 UTC

What injuries would get worse or appear given the fact that he has to move? (Assume he has basic medical supplies and first-aid knowledge) A ruptured spleen or a pierced lung. Both are pretty common injuries in low velocity impacts, can bleed for up to 48 hours and get worse each hour ( ... )

tarvae June 27 2016, 18:48:09 UTC

If you want him able to move about and not have treatment for about a week and not die in the meantime but bad enough to be in a lot of pain/need surgery/painful treatment I'd steer clear of ruptured spleen as I'm pretty sure they bleed like a fountain and can kill fast.

Broken ankle if not too bad can just about be walked on but something unspecified in a knee (ripped ligaments or cartilage) will hurt like hell but allow him to slowly limp for mobility but not be able to do a lot.

If you want messy and painful, consider a nice messy shouder dislocation - will leave him with one arm useless and the other occupied trying to hold the injured one and the pain will be enough to leave him seeing stars if he jolts it or falls.

anonymous June 27 2016, 23:04:02 UTC

It depends a lot on his landing. I imagine he'd choose something similar to a rock climbing harness so that he'd land feet first. In this case, he'd suffer lower leg fractures -and possibly lung lacerations- if this bridge is more than a couple stories higher than water level. He could suffer something like a tib-fib fracture in the calf, which can lead to compartment syndrome (and therefore, life-threatening complications and permanent damage/disability in the worst cases). I don't know how it would affect his swimming, but outside of the water, he could splint his ribs and calf. Lung laceration is likely, but a ruptured spleen is possible. He would be in the emergency room until a surgeon and operating room was available, which they would make available quickly if he had multiple fractures (or for hypotension/internal bleeding, but I assume the blood loss wasn't too severe if he was able to reach the hospital under his own power; maybe the spleen capsule's rupture was small). After that, he would be in recovery. Morphine is for pain ( ... )