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Kelly has worked in the medical field for over twenty years, mainly at large medical centers. With experience in a variety of settings, chances are Kelly may have seen it.
Sometimes truth seems stranger than fiction in medicine, but accurate medicine in fiction is fabulous.
Find her fiction at www.kellywhitley.com.
Hi Kelly,
ReplyDeleteI’d really appreciate your help with this scene.
My scenario. Hero and heroine’s first meeting. Remote location, time is early 2003. Heroine is driving a horse and cart and finds hero unconscious in a ditch. Hero has catapulted off a moving truck and is suffering a broken leg, shoulder separation, multiple cuts and contusions. (He is not quite human so the injuries aren’t going to kill him.) Heroine must stabilize and transport him in the bed of the cart by herself with what supplies she has at hand. She has experience with farm animals and she washed out of EMT training years ago so she does have some knowledge. For the heroine to physically get the man into the cart the hero must be somewhat conscious. Which scenario would be more likely…A) Heroine decides to set the broken leg and the pain awakens the hero, or B) hero regains consciousness and convinces the heroine to set the leg, thereby being awake enough to aid his move?
And how much detail should I put in the scene? Would a reader be interested in how she checks for lung puncture or why she makes a cervical collar out of the SAM split she has in the cart’s first aid kit? Come to think of it, would she bother with a cervical collar when she can’t immobilize him in a back board anyway? What do you think?
Hello, DM.
ReplyDeleteLook for the answer in a complete post tomorrow!
Cheers, Kelly
OK. The first time I tried to post this it got lost because I wasn't logged in to Wordpress. :(
ReplyDeleteWhat would the ER personnel do if a patient showed up presenting:
1) Cold sweats
2) Shaking
3) Stomach cramps and complaining of hunger
4) Nausea
5) Erratic behavior
6) Dark rings under the eyes and a pallid cast to the skin
7) Possibly sensitivity to light
What would they test for? What questions would they ask? What would they do to try to stabilize him?
Hello, Pencil neck.
DeleteHmm...
::Rubs hands together at number of possibilities::
Look for this on September 29th!
Cheers, Kelly