Source

One day you’ll sit in the sun and things won’t feel so bad

Writing Traumatic Injuries References

So, pretty frequently writers screw up when they write about 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…

I’m aiming to fix that.

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

Mayo Clinic first aid

Mayo Clinic diseases

First Aid

PubMed: The source for biomedical literature

Diagrams: Veins (towards heart), arteries (away from heart) bones, nervous system, brain

Burns

General overview: Includes degrees

Burn severity: Including how to estimate body area affected

Burn treatment: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degrees

Smoke inhalation

Smoke inhalation treatment

Chemical burns

Hot tar burns

Sunburns

Incisions and Lacerations

Essentials of skin laceration repair (including stitching techniques)

When to stitch (Journal article—Doctors apparently usually go by experience on this)

More about when to stitch (Simple guide for moms)

Basic wound treatment

Incision vs. laceration: Most of the time (including in medical literature) they’re used synonymously, but eh.

Types of lacerations: Page has links to some particularly graphic images—beware!

How to stop bleeding: 1, 2, 3

Puncture wounds: Including a bit about what sort of wounds are most likely to become infected

More about puncture wounds

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.

Home treatment of gunshot wound, also basics More about gunshot wounds, including medical procedures

Tourniquet use: Controversy around it, latest research

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

Setting a broken bone when no doctor is available

Healing time of common fractures

Broken wrists

Broken ankles/feet

Fractured vertebrae: Neck (1, 2), back

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.

Recovering from a concussion

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

Long-term emotional trauma: 1 (Includes symptoms), 2

First aid for emotional trauma

Treatment (drugs)

WebMD painkiller guide

Treatment (herbs)

1, 2, 3, 4

Miscellany

Snake bites: No, you don’t suck the venom out or apply tourniquettes

Frostbite

Frostbite treatment

Severe 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.

Poisons: Why inducing vomiting is a bad idea

Poisonous plants

Dislocations: Symptoms 1, 2; treatment. General notes: Repeated dislocations of same joint may lead to permanent tissue damage and may cause or be symptomatic of weakened ligaments. Docs recommend against trying to reduce (put back) dislocated joint on your own, though information about how to do it is easily found online.

Muscular strains

Joint sprain

Resuscitation after near-drowning: 1, 2

Current CPR practices: We don’t do mouth-to-mouth anymore.

The DSM IV, for all your mental illness needs.

Electrical shock

Human response to electrical shock: Includes handy-dandy voltage chart

Length of contact needed at different voltages to cause injury

Evaluation protocol for electric shock injury

Neurological complications

Electrical and lightning injury

Cardiac complications

Delayed effects and a good general summary

Acquired savant syndrome: Brain injuries (including a lightning strike) triggering development of amazing artistic and other abilities

Please don’t repost! You can find the original document (also created by me) here.

top 10 gayest killers’ songs

10. the ballad of michael valentine: literally just a song about how cool this guy is

9. midnight show: “DRIVE FASTER BOYYYYYYYY”

8. sam’s town: wanting to get out of your hometown is gay culture at it’s finest

7. on top: i mean………… it’s called…………

6. read my mind: not even explicitly gay but could you even imagine a song this good being about straight people? + “a subtle kiss that no one sees”

5. bones: the juxtaposition of sneaking away on the back roads and clarifying that “i don’t really like you” vs the reassurance of “it’s only natural.” the confession of “i never had a lover / i never had a soul / i never had a good time.”

4. mr. brightside: the ambiguity of the jealousy making it gay no matter the gender of the person singing is like… the definition of iconic. the jessie’s girl of this generation.

3. when you were young: the experience of “this isn’t what i pictured for myself but like. yeah. it makes sense.”

2. somebody told me: if you’re bisexual and you ever listen to any song other than this you die immediately

1. andy you’re a star: i don’t know where to begin with this one since every lyric is literally unambiguously gay. the restraint on the “hey shut up.” the facade of indifference on the first “in the car with a girl / promise me she’s not your world” vs the desperate outburst and almost-voice-crack on the second one. the vivid memories of your first unrequited middle school crush every gay person gets when listening to it. the killers singlehandedly invented gay rights thanks for listening

PSA for Switch owners

The latest 11.0 update means that Google Analytics is a thing on the switch and turned on. What that means is that Nintendo has a deal with Google to share with them your data for advertisement purposes.

To turn it off

go to the eShop

go to your profile where your funds and account info is

go down to the bottom of the page

there you will see “Google Analytics Preferences”

select the Change

select “Don’t Share”

Please spread the word. Really shitty of Nintendo to just quietly start allowing Google to spy on users for advertising.

Sci-fi short stories are so efficient; they take 15 minutes to read and then you think about them for the next 5 years

This needs to be promoted more

Stuck at home? Here’s an isolation survival post:

(Everything here is free to use! Feel free to add on. Links were purposefully broken to avoid Tumblr’s spam prevention.)

Social:

discordapp.com/ - Like Skype but better, more accessible, smoother, and with more features. Call, play games, and chat with friends.

twitch.tv/ - Watch and chat with people doing everything from gaming to cooking to teaching.

Reading:

whichbook.net/ - helps you find what book to read

overdrive.com/ - Free audiobooks through your public library

standardebooks.org/ebooks/ - Free ebooks

rbdigital.com/ - Free audiobooks and ebooks through your public library

Movies:

www.kanopy.com/ - Free movies through your public library

www.ted.com/ - Watch lots of educational and inspiring talks

Hobbies:

join.skillshare.com/ - Learn how to do virtually anything with 2 free months of premium

scratch.mit.edu/ - Make a game or movie, super easy to use, good introductory programming “language”

gimp.org/downloads/ - Free photoshop-like program.

twinery.org/ - Make a text-based game

pixologic.com/sculptris/ - make 3D models

unity.com/ - Make a 3D game

yoyogames.com/gamemaker - make a 2D game

spotify.com/us/ - Listen to music

travelandleisure.com/attractions/museums-galleries/museums-with-virtual-tours - Museums with virtual tours

Dungeons and Dragons: (play over Discord!) (DM me if you want PDFs of the Handbooks)

probablybadrpgideas.tumblr.com/post/612459866001391616/basic-rules-for-dungeons-dragons-dungeons - The Basics

entertainment.howstuffworks.com/leisure/brain-games/beginners-guide-dungeons-and-dragons.htm - Learn to play

roll20.net/ - Make maps/play online

Video Games:

itch.io/ - play hundreds of games

freegameplanet.com/ - Even more free games!

dolphin-emu.org/ - Play Gamecube and Wii games

Phone Apps:

sourceforge.net/projects/gameboid/ - Play gameboy games

smartphones.gadgethacks.com/how-to/10-must-play-free-puzzle-games-for-iphone-android-0178848/ - list of puzzle games

Cooking:

fridgetotable.com/ - Input ingredients you have and get recipes you can make.

youtube.com/user/DepressionCooking - Learn how to cook with limited ingredients from a lovely old woman who lived during the Great Depression

butterwithasideofbread.com/homemade-bread/ - Make bread with yeast

letsdishrecipes.com/traditional-irish-soda-bread/ - Make bread without yeast

Other tips:

Take care of yourself (eat well, shower often, wear clean clothes, exercise, clean your space)

Talk with people

Do what makes you happy

Take time away from screens

Play – with your pets, your kids, your friends. Keep yourself active and busy and happy.

shocking new discovery: you are very cute. scientists everywhere are blushing

My Anime List Summed Up in 10 Words or Less

Kill La Kill

Evil Alien Clothes make people go naked to fight back.

Nanbaka

Annoyed prison guard deals with his escaping inmates/children.

Servamp

Lazy vampire cat works for teenager with zero chill.

The Morose Mononokean

Tired high school exorcist hires literal 5 year old.

Kekkai Sensen

Kid moves to the city and joins a blood gang.

Dr. Stone

The Stone Age is both figurative and literal.

Given

Gays in a band. No further explanation needed

Literally all sports anime

The fate of the world depends on us winning this game.