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Q&A

Is surviving this (blood loss) scenario possible?

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So my character (16 yr old girl) got a deep cut (inches across) from a dagger across her torso and is knocked unconscious. (She falls onto her back) She had just enough time to contact her friends before she got knocked out.

Minutes pass (not sure how many) and she loses a bit more than 2 liters of blood. This is where her friends find her. I'm pretty sure the blood loss would be enough to make her go unconscious at this point. (Is it?) But if they gave her a blood restoring elixir (Au where there are like healing herbs made into medicine) to keep her stable until reinforcements arrive, she would survive, correct?

If the elixir wasn't present/possible, how would (and could) she survive?

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This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/151128. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Losing two liters of blood in and of itself is life-threatening but would not necessarily cause someone's death (assuming this is an adult human or someone with a similar blood volume).

Exsanguination is losing enough blood to cause death...People can die from losing half to two-thirds of their blood. The average adult has about 5 to 6 liters of blood in their body (women, and people who weigh more, have more blood). This means a person can die from losing 2 1/2 to 4 liters of blood. To compare, this is five to eight times as much blood as people usually give in a blood donation. Children and babies have much less blood than adults, and can exsanguinate by losing much less blood than adults. Exsanguination is often called bleeding to death or bleeding out. It is a medical emergency. (ref)

If your character is still alive when her friends find her, and they are able to completely stop the bleeding (not just blood that goes on the ground but internal bleeding too), that should be enough to save her life. Especially if the elixir also restores her blood to its full volume. And assuming that there are no other injuries that are life-threatening in and of themselves (for example, if her heart was damaged or the blade went into her lungs).

If the elixir didn't exist, her friends would have to stop the bleeding with pressure. This would not be possible if the injury was to a major artery, not without surgical equipment. If the injury is to a limb, you can use a tourniquet, but obviously that doesn't work on a torso. This will stabilize her for a short time, enough for paramedics to take over, if they are available quickly.

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