This is an interesting article, and it feels like a story idea in the making. I have no idea what to do with it, myself, so I'm tossing it out for others to consider.
Posts: 745 | Registered: May 2015
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Saw some news reports on this in the past couple of days. This is also one subject I'm pretty sure I don't want to see any pictures on, at least without some good reason. The one with the article wasn't, er, revelatory...
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Well, considering the damage was internal rather than external, it would probably involve X-rays unless the pictures were from the surgery itself.
Posts: 745 | Registered: May 2015
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Typical! Journalists, hummmmpf! Never let the facts get in the way of a good story (I dated a crime reporter for eight years--I know.) Fact: the skull was separated from the spinal column. Fact: The spinal cord, blood vessels, and musculature were not severed. Fact: This is not a decapitation in any sense. Sheesh!
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Thank you for that fact correction, Phil. It's still an awesome feat, but there is a huge difference there. I should have paid closer attention. Posts: 745 | Registered: May 2015
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I'm curious how they knew what had happened, though. And how they knew what to do to prevent more damage soon enough to fix things.
Also interesting to have it pointed out that in a head-on collision with that kind of speed, even a car seat is not going to protect a child completely.
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Bleeding from ears and nose indicates head trauma, especially inner ear bleeding for basilar skull fractures, like trauma to the posterior skull occipital bone that connects to the spinal column.
I expect paramedics diagnosed a head trauma right away, and determined limited or no neurological trauma from active pupillary response. They took appropriate precautions to preclude further injury from head movement, probably immobilized the toddler's head and neck for transport. Then an X-ray probably at the emergency center differentially diagnosed the fracture, and later MRI and probably CT scan identified the exact location and extent of the fracture and precluded other soft tissue and traumatic brain injury.
That the wreck occurred in Australia is probably fortuitous as well. Also, an observed irony that the vehicles' high speeds that contributed to the extent of injuries are legal there and only a few other places. Paramedics in Australia generally have more medical training and options less available in other countries, because large portions of Australia are vast empties and on-scene stabilization and treatment are more necessary. Where, for example, in the U.S., technology assists and ample clinical settings are often close by and only basic first aid and stabilization is usually all a paramedic team needs or is trained or allowed to do. Exceptions notwithstood.
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We are a weird mob, I'll grant you that extrinsic. In the Northern territory there is one stretch of road that has no speed limit; I got to 338 kph on my motorcycle, then the rev limiter kicked in.
Also, in Oz, a paramedic obtains their degree after a three to four year university course which includes on-the-job clinical experience as well. They are trauma specialists.
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That is very cool to know. Thank you, extrinsic and Phil.
Wow. I think we Hatrackers are a pretty weird mob as well. Ask a question, and someone will either know the answer or know how to find it.
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quote:Originally posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury: Wow. I think we Hatrackers are a pretty weird mob as well. Ask a question, and someone will either know the answer or know how to find it.
It's great fun, isn't it? Posts: 745 | Registered: May 2015
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There was a horror movie about having someone else's hands, as I recall. Don't remember the name of the movie, though.
I don't mention it to suggest that "this has already been done" since most ideas have already been done. Your question about wondering what the fingerprints would show about where the hands have been sounds interesting. It implies that the new owner of the hands doesn't know who the donor was. Could they be from two different donors?
When developing a story idea, Orson Scott Card recommends asking as many questions as you can thing of about the idea, and then as you continue, ask things like "what could go wrong?"
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I remember that movie, Kathleen. In fact, there were two: the original with Lon Chaney (I think) and a 70's remake--might have been a Hammer Horror movie.
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