Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Injuries
Injuries
People are
clonked over the head, pass out for hours, and wake up with just a headache… Eragon
breaks his wrist and it’s just fine within days… Wounds heal with nary a scar,
ever…
Here are over 100 links covering just about every facet of traumatic injuries
(physical, psychological, long-term), focusing mainly on burns, concussions,
fractures, and lacerations. Now you can beat up your characters properly!
General resources
WebMD
First Aid
Diagrams: Veins (towards heart), arteries (away from heart) bones, nervous system,
brain
Burns
Smoke inhalation
Chemical burns
Sunburns
Incision vs. laceration: Most of the time (including in medical literature) they’re
used synonymously, but eh.
Puncture wounds: Including a bit about what sort of wounds are most likely to
become infected
Wound assessment: A huge amount of information, including what the color of the
flesh indicates, different kinds of things that ooze from a wound, and so much
more.
Location pain chart: Originally intended for tattoo pain, but pretty accurate for
cuts
General note: Deeper=more serious. Elevate wounded limb so that gravity draws blood
towards heart. Scalp wounds also bleed a lot but tend to be superficial. If it’s
dirty, risk infection. If it hits the digestive system and you don’t die
immediately, infection’ll probably kill you. Don’t forget the possibility of
tetanus! If a wound is positioned such that movement would cause the wound to gape
open (i.e. horizontally across the knee) it’s harder to keep it closed and may take
longer for it to heal.
Broken bones
Types of fractures
Broken wrists
Broken ankles/feet
Types of casts
Splints
Fracture complications
Broken noses
Broken digits: Fingers and toes
General notes: If it’s a compound fracture (bone poking through) good luck fixing
it on your own. If the bone is in multiple pieces, surgery is necessary to fix it—
probably can’t reduce (“set”) it from the outside. Older people heal more slowly.
It’s possible for bones to “heal” crooked and cause long-term problems and joint
pain. Consider damage to nearby nerves, muscle, and blood vessels.
Concussions
General overview
Types of concussions 1, 2
Concussion complications
Mild Brain Injuries: The next step up from most severe type of concussion, Grade 3
Post-concussion syndrome
Second impact syndrome: When a second blow delivered before recovering from the
initial concussion has catastrophic effects. Apparently rare.
Symptoms: Scroll about halfway down the page for the most severe symptoms
Whiplash
General notes: If you pass out, even for a few seconds, it’s serious. If you have
multiple concussions over a lifetime, they will be progressively more serious.
Symptoms can linger for a long time.
Character reaction:
Shock (general)
Physical shock: 1, 2
Fight-or-flight response: 1, 2
Treatment (drugs)
1, 2, 3, 4
Miscellany
Snake bites: No, you don’t suck the venom out or apply tourniquettes
Frostbite
Frostbite treatment
When frostbite sets in: A handy chart for how long your characters have outside at
various temperatures and wind speeds before they get frostbitten
First aid myths: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Includes the ones about buttering burns and putting
snow on frostbite.
Poisonous plants
Muscular strains
Joint sprain
Electrical shock
Neurological complications
Cardiac complications
Please don’t repost! You can find the original document (also created by me) here.