I was recently asked a question by writer Rebekah Sikyta regarding recovering from blood loss. She wrote:
If he (her character) loses a fair amount of blood (I’m thinking like Class II hemorrhage, but it happens over a couple hours) and passes out, how long will he remain unconscious once the bleeding is stopped? Also, how will he feel when he wakes up? What will his recovery look like in terms of lingering effects of the blood loss?
This is a great question. If you aren’t familiar with what she means by class II hemorrhage, look over this post on blood loss. There’s a ton of variables at play here.
Things to Consider When Recovering from Blood Loss
First, you must consider the setting. The era will have a dramatic impact on recovering from blood loss because it will decide the level of medical knowledge and care that is available.
Second, the size of the character matters. Larger people simply have more blood. When speaking of classifications of hemorrhage, blood loss is considered by percentage rather than measured amounts. However, it will take a small person much less time to lose, say, twenty percent of their blood than it would a person twice that size. And, again, it’s just because the larger has more blood.
Third, speed of blood loss has a huge impact on one’s ability to survive. If you lose it too quickly, the body is less able to adapt to the lack of o2 traveling to the cells. So, your character is more likely to survive a Class II hemorrhage that bleeds out slowly rather than all at once.
Fourth, be sure that you don’t write the wound in the gut. When you cut into the abdominal area you run the risk of sepsis and that complicates everything and your character could easily die even with modern medicine.
Regenerating Blood Is Only Part of the Problem.
When you donate a pint of blood, the body is able to regenerate that blood volume in under 48 hours. However, it can take up to a month or more for the red blood cell count to return to normal. That is why you must wait at least fifteen weeks between blood donations. When RBC count is low, the body has to work much harder to get oxygen to the cells.
Symptoms of Anemia
A low RBC count causes anemia. Symptoms of anemia are:
- Easy fatigue and loss of energy.
- Unusually rapid heart beat, particularly with exercise.
- Shortness of breath and headache, particularly with exercise.
- Difficulty concentrating.
- Dizziness.
- Pale skin.
- Leg cramps.
- Insomnia.
Back to the Question
So, how long will it take a character to recover from a class II hemorrhage – 15-30% loss of blood volume? There is no hard and fast timetable. Outside of a medical setting where IV fluids and/or transfusions are available, it’s equally feasible that they live or die. If they live, they have quite a road to recovery. They may go unconscious or be so weak that communication is limited. How long they may be unconscious is hard to say. They may be conscious but simply to weak to open their eyes or speak. I would imagine you could feasibly allow them to be unresponsive for a full day.
While recovering will need lots of rest and fluids. The more fluids the better. As soon as they are able to eat, they need foods high in iron. It is completely feasible that they are weak for more than a month depending upon how young and otherwise healthy they are. Because, remember, even after blood volume has returned to normal, it will take much more time to build up the RBC count.
While recovering from blood loss the character will tire quickly. Just having a conversation might tire them out. As tired as they are, they may not be able to sleep. They may have headaches and leg cramps. Walking might be difficult for a week. If they need to go anywhere, they will need to be transported.
The Takeaway
Blood loss like this is great when you need a character to be down but not dead. It also allows the opportunity for a lot of dialogue as they recover. It’s also a great for when you want all the other characters, and maybe reader, to think they are dead but then PLOT TWIST they alive!!!!!
Send me questions any time, writers. For reals. I love them!
Until the next round at FightWrite™, get blood on your pages!
