Author: Jordyn Redwood

Author Question: Gun Shot Wound/Severed Brachial Artery

/ Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

Sandy Asks:

I am writing a scene where my heroine gets shot in the scuffle with the bad guy. If she’s shot in the brachial artery in her left arm, is it conceivable that she’d pass out and bleed a lot? Her firefighter hero is there and immediately rips off his shirt and balls it up to stop/slow the bleeding. He then uses a strip of fabric from another shirt to tie around that and then carries her to a waiting police car to get her to the hospital—in this case, an ER clinic.

How much danger is there of bleeding out? Is the pressure wrap enough? Can she survive? What would be the treatment? Surgery, I assume, and blood transfusions. Would she remain unconscious and for how long?

Jordyn Says:

Yes, it is conceivable that she would pass out and bleed a lot. The brachial artery will bleed briskly and quickly and without direct intervention she could bleed to death in a matter of minutes (3-6 min). I think both methods to control the bleeding need to happen quickly. The firefighter can direct a bystander to apply direct pressure while he fashions the tourniquet as he will have more experience. The tourniquet should be applied above the level of bleeding. After those two measures, I would have the firefighter continue direct pressure at the sight with a compression dressing. This will be better than continuing to hold direct pressure.

To your specific questions:

Without intervention, this character is in great danger of bleeding out. With immediate intervention, she should be all right.

I would do both the tourniquet and the pressure dressing.

Initial treatment by EMS would be to establish IV access very quickly and start supporting the fluid loss with IV fluids. A set of vital signs. Possibly oxygen if her heart rate is really elevated, her oxygen level is low, or she’s exhibiting any kind of distress.

Since she is being transported by a police car, these would then become the initial steps performed in the ER.

Upon arrival to the ER, labs will be drawn to check her blood counts. If low, then blood transfusion would be warranted. Repairing a severed artery will require surgery.

Whether or not the character goes unconscious depends on a lot of factors. A person can just pass out from looking at blood and the stress of being shot in addition to blood loss. If a person passes out from blood loss, they should regain consciousness as soon as their blood pressure is normalized either with IV fluids and/or blood transfusions.

You mention an “ER clinic”. I’m not quite sure what you mean by this, but a free standing ER, urgent care, or an “emergency” room outside a major hospital can have limitations in the type of care they can deliver. So, if it’s such a situation, the patient would need to be transferred to a larger hospital (for surgery, admission, etc).

Best of luck with this story!

911 S2/E2: Determining Death

/ Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

In Episode 2 of this season’s Fox series 9-1-1, a devastating earthquake has hit LA county.

The team is searching for victims when they come upon a patient where only her lower legs are visible. The paramedic reaches down and assesses her pulse at her foot and determines that she’s dead. Time to move on.

Can you feel someone’s pulse in their foot? Yes, you can. He’s palpating what’s called the dorsalis pedis pulse.

Should it be used to determine if the patient is dead? To this, I would say no. The problem is, when the body goes into shock, it shunts blood toward the central aspects of your body to ensure blood flow to your vital organs so even though the person is alive, you may not be able to feel the pulses in the feet. This is why when checking for life, the use of central pulses is encouraged— for instance the femoral or carotid pulses. Also, this victim could just have two broken legs with compromised blood flow to her feet causing the lack of pulse.

However, I’m not going to give them too much grief for this. In a mass casualty situation, sometimes you do just need to move on and save who you can.

Author Question: How Fast Does A Tranquilizer Dart Work?

/ Jordyn Redwood / 4 Comments

Alyson Asks:

I’m writing a script where the villains shoot people with a gun but we discover later it was only a tranquilizer. Is there a tranquilizer drug combination that can be shot from a distance (can be close range) at a person that would take effect fairly immediately? Or would stop them from being able to communicate immediately.

Jordyn Says:

Thanks for sending me your question.

There is no drug combination given intramuscularly (IM or within the muscle as a dart injection would be) that would incapacitate a victim immediately or even within a few seconds. For instance, Ketamine takes 3-4 minutes to work IM. This will be the case with most drugs given via this route— the range of 2-4 minutes for onset of action.

Hope this answers your question.

Best of luck with your story.

Author Question: Medical Condition for Elderly Man to become Comatose

/ Jordyn Redwood / 2 Comments

Amanda Asks:

I have an elderly character who is about 90-years-old. As things stand, he is very sharp mentally and physically and fairly strong for his age. The story needs are for him to be in a coma, whether natural or medically induced, for several weeks.

My question is, is there a cause or condition that would make this plausible at his age, that he could still awake from when it’s time for him to re-enter the story? I did some preliminary poking around and it seems like medically-induced comas are less common in the elderly. What might happen to him to put him in such a state (naturally or medically), that he could still awake from?

It could be anything at all for the story. I just don’t know what’s feasible and what’s not. And how long can he be in the unconscious state before it becomes too unrealistic?

Jordyn Says:

Lots of things can cause someone to be in a coma caused by direct injury to the brain or something that would cause lack of oxygen to the brain.

One thing that is quite common in the elderly is a subdural hemotoma. Sometimes, if the clot is big enough, it will cause pressure and swelling on the brain enough to induce a coma. Usually, surgery would be used to drain a blood collection like this. One of the most common causes of a subdural hematoma in the elderly is a fall where they strike their head. As we age, our blood vessels become more fragile. If your character was also on a blood thinner for any reason— this would increase his risk for bleeding and potentially the size of the blood clot.

Any significant, direct injury to the brain can cause coma. A serious car accident. Falling off a ladder onto your head. Etc.

More medical causes, particularly in his age group, could be a stroke or a heart attack. A stroke causing a coma might be hard to write. In real life, it has a high mortality rate. Not to say it’s impossible but any direct injury in the brain (either through blood bleeding where it shouldn’t or the brain dying because of lack of oxygen causing death of brain tissue) is going to be hard to overcome with a mentally intact patient on the other end.

A heart attack, where he was deprived of oxygen for a period of time, could cause coma. Generally, over four minutes of down time without resusitative efforts is getting into the brain death arena. Even patients who are revived after four minutes will typically have brain death or proceed there. Of course, there are always outliers.

However, even a patient who gets immediate resuscitation (CPR at the least) can still proceed to coma once a pulse and good blood pressure are reestablished.

If I were you, I would pick either a subdural hematoma or a heart attack. I think this will be more likely to preserve the mental state of your character. If the heart attack, I would have it be a very short down time before he is treated and gets his pulse back.

Comas are very hard to write into stories. The length of time is up to you— that happens in real life. A coma of 1-2 weeks for these situations might be a little on the outside but possible.

The problem with a character in a coma for a lengthy period is that normal bodily functions must be tended to. We have to maintain the body functioning as close to how it does when we’re awake. So, the patient must be fed (either through a nasal, oral, or surgically implanted feeding tube). The character will still need to pee and poop— so a catheter can be placed to drain urine. We generally don’t like catheters to stay in long term because it increases the risk of infection for the patient and the elderly are more at risk for this.

Also, a patient in a coma is likely going to need ventilatory assistance and if they are on a vent over 7-10 days then generally there will be talk of putting in a trach.

The longer the coma, the more rehab a person will need. Even if in a coma for 1-2 weeks, the amount of generalized muscle atrophy will be significant. A character who is a 90 y/o who awakens from a coma after being bedridden for 1-2 weeks would probably go to inpatient rehab for several weeks/months and then outpatient rehab for a couple of months– and that might be underestimating. It’s just hard to recover from these types of injures as we age.

Hope this helps and best of luck with your story!

Author Question: Stab Wound to the Abdomen in a Young Girl

/ Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

Loinnir Asks:

There’s a scene in my story where one of the main characters, a short and slightly underweight 13 year old, is stabbed in the abdomen (I was thinking the epigastric region) with a 4-5 inch blade which is almost immediately ripped out by the perpetrator. Around 25-30 minutes pass before she arrives at the hospital (she is transported by car, not an ambulance as the witnesses don’t have any way to call one).

So, I was wondering how likely she is to survive, the type of treatment and expected length of recovery, and what would the protocol be for the witnesses (her five friends, all minors)?

Jordyn Says:

Thanks for sending me your question.

I think the biggest risk in an underweight (thin child) being stabbed with a 4-5 inch blade (which is fairly long) in the epigastric region is hitting the descending aorta (or one of the large veins). Particularly if the blade is pulled out, there would be little to stem the bleeding. Of course, it would depend on the angle and depth of the blade but this would be one of the more concerning injuries. If the blade is angled up, you could also hit the diaphragm, a lung, and possibly the heart. Angle the blade to the side and you have the spleen on the left and the liver on the right.

Biggest risk of death for this victim would be hemorrhage. Considering she is being transported by car versus ambulance, she would die in just a few minutes if her descending aorta or heart were hit. A lung injury could be survivable if care is given within thirty minutes depending on how much of the lung is deflated.

If you want her to live, I would also avoid hitting the liver or spleen on either side as she would bleed to death before getting to the hospital.

Getting stabbed in this area could also injure the small intestine. This is probably the more survivable injury. It would require surgical repair and a short hospital stay if the surgery went well and there was no other damage. They would have to ensure her bowels were working, she was passing gas, and could tolerate food and fluids before discharging home.

Medical treatment in the ER for a stab wound would be a set of vital signs, continuous monitoring of ECG, oxygen levels, and breathing. IV placement (likely two—one in each arm in the antecubital space), normal saline fluid boluses, labs (particularly those that measure blood levels and organ function of the abdomen) and blood if needed. They’ll check her urine for blood and if she’s menstruating she will get a pregnancy test. She would likely get x-rays of her chest and abdomen as well as a CT scan of her abdomen checking for injuries. Antibiotics would likely be warranted if her intestine had been perforated. Then to the OR to repair any injuries.

I’m not sure what you’re asking as far as the five minor witnesses. I checked with my brother who works in law enforcement and he said there are no legal issues in interviewing a juvenile witness. If your question is concerning medical care, I don’t see a reason for these kids to be evaluated if they are uninjured. At the scene, they would likely be held until parents arrived to pick them up.

Best of luck with this novel.

Author Question: What Kind of Car Accident Matches these Injuries?

/ Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

Mary Asks:

I have a couple questions. My young adult characters (a total of six— four of them intoxicated) were involved in a car accident. The two sober ones were in the first vehicle. My plan was to have the driver suffer from a broken wrist, maybe a bump on the head, nothing too serious (this can change if it needs to). If he is that okay would it be unrealistic to have his passenger hit her head hard enough to lose consciousness and suffer memory loss when she wakes up? I was thinking of including pretty severe amnesia, but as for the other four characters, would their level of intoxication let them walk away with little to no injuries, or would they still arrive in the ER with at least the unconscious passenger?

Jordyn Says:

There are so many variables in car accidents that you could basically do whatever you wanted, but I’ll give you some guidelines.

If you want the injuries to be less severe, I would not have a very serious car accident. For instance, your two sober characters in the first car should not be traveling probably over 45mph. Are there air bags in the car? Did they deploy? Typically they’ll deploy in a front end collision. Now air bags are not like soft little pillows when they inflate so facial injuries are not uncommon with air bag deployment so your driver breaking his wrist (if he were bracing the steering wheel in anticipation of the accident upon impact) with a bump on his head would be reasonable if he were seat belted into the car.

The sober passenger— I’ve never really seen “pretty severe amnesia” in head injuries unless the brain injury was very significant (like brain swelling, bleeding requiring intubation, medical coma, etc). This could be achieved if this passenger was not wearing a seat belt and maybe came up over the top of the air bag into the windshield. Or, for some reason, the air bag failed to deploy and they hit the dash board or they’re driving an older car without air bags.

Generally people with amnesia related to a “simple” concussion will remember what happened to them in a few hours— generally after sleeping so everything can “reset” itself. Most often, in the ER, we observe them until they are at their “neurological baseline” which means they basically have to be the same way they were before the accident as far as knowing who they are, where they are, and what time it is, and somewhat remember what happened. Also, their physical symptoms will have to be improved (little to no headache, no repetitive vomiting or nausea, good motor function, and can walk with little to no dizziness).

So to have “pretty severe amnesia” which I think you mean to have the amnesia to persist over days or weeks then I think this character would need a more severe head injury— which could probably be achieved if the passenger went through the windshield because she wasn’t wearing a seat belt.

The drunk kids— with an offset front end collision of around 45 mph and they were all seat belted into the car with air bag deployment then I could see them walking away with little to no injures. Likely, EMS would transport them to the ER for a medical exam because 1) they are minors (I’m assuming under 18) and 2) they’re drunk and could be responsible for an accident. The police might be interested in a legal blood alcohol levels which can be very tricky (for instance, our ER doesn’t do them. We’ll do a medical one, but this isn’t released to the police). Now, could a prosecutor later obtain those medical records through the courts? Probably with a warrant.

Hope this helps and best of luck with your story.

Author Question: Gunshot Wound Near Clavicle

/ Jordyn Redwood / 2 Comments

Sarah Asks:

In my novella, the main character is shot directly below the left clavicle by a sniper rifle. The bullet misses the bone, but would it have hit the subclavian artery or another artery? And if so, how long would it take for her to bleed out? She receives medical help from an off-duty paramedic within three to five minutes. Thanks!


Jordyn Says:

I reviewed a couple of anatomy pictures and the subclavian artery appears to sit higher and slightly above the clavicle or collar bone. When looking at anatomy photos, red indicates arteries (as they are taking oxygen rich blood away from your heart to the rest of your body) and blue indicates veins (bringing oxygen poor blood to your heart and lungs for more oxygen).

That being said, the left chest has all sorts of major veins and arteries. A bullet can always miss these structures— we all hear those rare stories, but I generally encourage authors to stick to the right chest for a more believable scenario if they want the character to live. Ultimately, it is your choice.

The subclavian vein, which is nestled under the artery, could definitely be nicked or severed by a gunshot wound to this area (either the right or left side). Central lines are often placed to the subclavian vein which is accessed just benenath the collar bone.

If the bullet hits the subclavian artery, the character would bleed out fairly immediately— in roughly under two minutes without any medical intervention. Your paramedic arriving in three to five minutes would likely be too late. Direct pressure to the area will help. It is hard to stem bleeding from an artery this size, but pressure could help delay the onset of death for another few minutes.

If the bullet hits the subclavian vein, the bleeding will still be brisk but could be more easily controlled with pressure than bleeding from an artery.

If you want an injury that will bleed, but would likely be survivable, I would pick the subclavian vein with people at the scene immediately applying direct pressure to the gunshot wound.

Hope this helps and best of luck with your story!

Dr. Strange Should Know Better

/ Jordyn Redwood / 2 Comments

If you haven’t seen the movie Dr. Strange, you have been warned that this blog post will contain spoilers to the movie.

Dr. Strange, released in 2016 as part of the Marvel Universe, features a stereotypical, obnoxious, arrogant, and rich neurosurgeon. He is greatly skilled, but is known to turn down patients in order to keep his perfect surgical record. Unfortunately for the character, he is in a terrible car accident and both his hands sustain multiple fractures that cause permanent nerve damage and therefore lead to the end of his promising career.

Dr. Strange is like many patients when the medical establishment can’t offer complete healing. He begins to investigate alternative/investigative medicine for treatments. He hears from a physical therapist that a patient with a complete spinal fracture is up and walking around. Dr. Strange responds to this by saying, “Show me his file.”

I’ve said all along in this blog that medical people in films, television, and novels can do bad things. Your job as the writer is to let the reader know that you know that the character is misbehaving in his role. This allows the reader to know you’ve done your research and they can trust you as an author.

Dr. Strange asking for this patient’s chart if flat out a HIPAA violation. He never cared for the patient and he has no right to know what’s in his medical record. There are consequences for HIPAA violations and having the character suffer these is a great way to add tension and conflict to the story.

A second medical violation in the movie is the treatment of Dr. Strange’s chest wound. He suffers a blade wound to the chest and transports himself back to his old hospital to be treated by a colleague. There are a few problems with this scene.

Problem #1: That there is a sterile operating room in the ER. No, this isn’t standard. Can sterile procedures be done in the ER? Yes, but not a sterile operation as in the OR.

Problem #2: Wrong ECG rhythm. Dr. Strange has diagnosed himself with a pericardial tamponade. A cardiac tamponade is where fluid is collecting in the sack around the heart thereby impinging on the heart’s ability to pump blood.

The rescue procedure for this is a pericardiocentisis— or removal of the fluid from around the heart. His love interest confirms the diagnosis by percussing his chest. This is probably the least reliable way of diagnosing this problem. Any well equipped ER should have some sort of bedside ultrasound to aid in the diagnosis. The ECG monitor first shows a rhythm of bradycardia— the heart beating too slowly. This again is one of the least likely rhythms related to this condition.

Problem #3: Wrong placement of the needle. In the movie, the doctor is shown placing the need straight into the chest. It should be at an angle pointed to the left shoulder which this nifty video on You Tube shows.

Problem #4: Shocking asystole: I’ve blogged a lot on this. You cannot shock asystole. It won’t improve the outcome for the patient and is contraindicated. First treatment is high quality CPR and a dose of epinephrine or adrenaline. Also, this is not the correct paddle placement for defibrillation. It should be just to the right of the patient’s sternum and over the apex of the heart or more to the left side. They also cannot be placed over clothing.

Problem #5: OR is next. Most likely a patient like this with penetrating trauma to the chest would likely go to the OR, or at least some follow-up radiology studies. Not just stitched up and sent on his way.

Something Strange about Dr. Strange

/ Jordyn Redwood / Leave a comment

Most love a good operating room scene where a brilliant mind and steady hand save the day. Dr. Strange fulfills this role in his self-titled movie and was most enjoyable to watch.

However, there is one scene that concerned me.

See anything strange besides the man who carries the name?

The two main characters are creating a burr hole in the skull to be able to retrieve the bullet lodge near the medulla. The are in full sterile attire except for their masks.

Several years ago, I was called to the OR to assist with the removal of a brain tumor guided with ultrasound. No one in that room went without a mask covering their mouth and noise. In fact, I was not even allowed to enter the suite without a mask in place.

All of the surgeons, nurses and surgical assistants surrounding the table also wore face shield to protect their eyes from any splatter of the patient’s biological fluids.

So you can imagine my disdain when watching the movie, Dr. Strange, and discovering two surgeons hovering over a patient’s head, creating burr holes in his skull without masks. Upon further research, the wearing of masks in the OR has caused some controversy.

According to Lisa Maragakis, Senior Director of Epidemiology and Infection Control at John Hopkins Health System, some studies have shown the absence of a mask in the OR “have virtually no bearing on the patient outcomes when surgeries are performed by healthy doctors in sanitary operating rooms.” (Maragakis, 2016) In some European hospitals, surgeons are no longer required to wear masks.

However, she also discusses what happens when a surgeon sneezes. Personally if it were my open brain, I’d not want my surgeon’s droplets nestling into my head wound.

Here in the US, most hospital and operating room protocols still require our surgeons to don the traditional surgical mask and encourage facial shields.

Perhaps, one day that will change, but right now, I’m glad wearing surgical masks are not strange.

References:

Sugarman, J. (2016). What Do Surgical Masks Really Protect Against? Retrieved May 28, 2018.
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Shannon Moore Redmon writes romantic suspense stories, to entertain and share the gospel truth of Jesus Christ. Her stories dive into the healthcare environment where Shannon holds over twenty years of experience as a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer. Her extensive work experience includes Radiology, Obstetrics/Gynecology and Vascular Surgery.

As the former Education Manager for GE Healthcare, she developed her medical professional network across the country. Today, Shannon teaches ultrasound at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College and utilizes many resources to provide accurate healthcare research for authors requesting her services.

She is a member of the ACFW and Blue Ridge Mountain Writer’s Group. Shannon is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency. She lives and drinks too much coffee in North Carolina with her husband, two boys and her white foo-foo dog, Sophie.

Author Question: Drug Injection Scene

/ Jordyn Redwood / 1 Comment

Kiri Asks:

I really hope you can help me. I feel like I’ve reached out to half the medical community and still haven’t gotten an answer.

I have a protagonist who suffered a ruptured aneurysm two years before the story starts. The aneurysm caused a stroke. Presently, he is mostly recovered, though he still suffers migraines and some memory loss. I have a scene where another character catches sight of yet another character giving my protagonist a shot in the arm.

Originally, I had the intramuscular injection be a vasopressor to help with his blood pressure, but then someone told me this would only be done in a hospital.

I would really like to keep this injection scene. So I changed it to an anticoagulant, though I’m having trouble verifying that this is anything someone like him might need. (Did I mention he has another blood vessel wall bulging and ready to burst, this one inoperable?)

I also have him taking beta blockers for his migraines and he later uses these to try to commit suicide by taking an entire bottle. An ER nurse told me this would certainly be dangerous. I could change it to another drug.

Any thoughts are much appreciated.

Jordyn Says:

First of all, you have two competing medications. A vasopressor raises blood pressure and are typically given IV in the ER and ICU setting. The beta blocker used for his migraines can (and often does) lower blood pressure.

Unfortunately, I don’t see either of your two options as feasible for an intramuscular injection scene— either as an anticoagulant or a blood pressure medication. If the character’s blood pressure is too low, the first thing would likely be to give him some IV fluids and just stop the beta blocker.

Some patients do go home on subcutaneous (SQ) anticoagulant therapy, but usually it’s when they have a known clot— not simply to just keep the blood thin. There are too many excellent prescribed oral medications to do this on an outpatient basis. If you wanted your patient to have a clot in the leg (deep vein thrombosis) than this therapy would be reasonable but developing a clot like this would be unlikely if he were already on anticoagulants for his brain coils related to treatment of his first aneurysm. You could read more about this here.

I’m not aware of any blood pressure medicines that are given SQ or IM (into the muscle). There are several given IV in the emergency/ICU setting but these would not be appropriate for home use. Patients are transitioned to home oral medications.

The only medication that could be given consistently SQ on a home basis with any regularity that I could see would be insulin for diabetes.

I did find this pamphlet on-line about SQ meds given in palliative care (hospice) but I don’t think any would fit your scenario. They are mostly anti-anxiety, anti-nausea, or drying agents for secretions given this way because the patient can’t swallow anymore. In fact, most of the links about SQ meds given at home were in conjuction with hospice care.

Also, SQ and IM sites and the angle at which they are given are different as well.

Probably best to find an alternative to this scene.