Injury Angst For Writing Dummies.

Injury angst for writing dummies.

Hospitals and injury are always such a staple of angst fics, but 9 times out of 10 the author has clearly never been in an emergency situation and the scenes always come off as over-dramatized and completely unbelievable. So here’s a crash course on hospital life and emergencies for people who want authenticity. By someone who spends 85% of her time in a hospital.

Emergency Departments/Ambulances.

Lights and sirens are usually reserved for the actively dying. Unless the person is receiving CPR, having a prolonged seizure or has an obstructed airway, the ambulance is not going to have lights and sirens blaring. I have, however, seen an ambulance throw their lights on just so they can get back to the station faster once. Fuckers made me late for work.

Defibrillators don’t do that. You know, that. People don’t go flying off the bed when they get shocked. But we do scream “CLEAR!!” before we shock the patient. Makes it fun.

A broken limb, surprisingly, is not a high priority for emergency personnel. Not unless said break is open and displaced enough that blood isn’t reaching a limb. And usually when it’s that bad, the person will have other injuries to go with it.

Visitors are not generally allowed to visit a patient who is unstable. Not even family. It’s far more likely that the family will be stuck outside settling in for a good long wait until they get the bad news or the marginally better news. Unless it’s a child. But if you’re writing dying children in your fics for the angst factor, I question you sir.

Unstable means ‘not quite actively dying, but getting there’. A broken limb, again, is not unstable. Someone who came off their motorbike at 40mph and threw themselves across the bitumen is.

CPR is rarely successful if someone needs it outside of hospital. And it is hard fucking work. Unless someone nearby is certified in advanced life support, someone who needs CPR is probably halfway down the golden tunnel moving towards the light.

Emergency personnel ask questions. A lot of questions. So many fucking questions. They don’t just take their next victim and rush off behind the big white doors into the unknown with just a vague ‘WHAT HAPPENED? SHE HIT HER HEAD?? DON’T WORRY SIR!!!’ They’re going to get the sir and ask him so many questions about what happened that he’s going to go cross eyed. And then he’s going to have to repeat it to the doctor. And then the ICU consultant. And the police probably.

In a trauma situation (aka multiple injuries (aka car accident, motorbike accident, falling off a cliff, falling off a horse, having a piano land on their head idfk you get the idea)) there are a lot of people involved. A lot. I can’t be fucked to go through them all, but there’s at least four doctors, the paramedics, five or six nurses, radiographers, surgeons, ICU consultants, students, and any other specialities that might be needed (midwives, neonatal transport, critical retrieval teams etc etc etc). There ain’t gonna be room to breathe almost when it comes to keeping someone alive.

Emergency departments are a life of their own so you should probably do a bit of research into what might happen to your character if they present there with some kind of illness or injury before you go ahead and scribble it down.

Wards

Nurses run them. No seriously. The patient will see the doctor for five minutes in their day. The nurse will do the rest. Unless the patient codes.

There is never a defibrillator just sitting nearby if a patient codes.

And we don’t defibrillate every single code.

If the code does need a defibrillator, they need CPR.

And ICU.

They shouldn’t be on a ward.

There are other people who work there too. Physiotherapists will always see patients who need rehab after breaking a limb. Usually legs, because they need to be shown how to use crutches properly.

Wards are separated depending on what the patient’s needs are. Hospitals aren’t separated into ICU, ER and Ward. It’s usually orthopaedic, cardiac, neuro, paediatric, maternity, neonatal ICU, gen surg, short stay surg, geriatric, palliative…figure out where your patient is gonna be. The care they get is different depending on where they are.

ICU.

A patient is only in ICU if they’re at risk of active dying. I swear to god if I see one more broken limb going into ICU in a fic to rank up the angst factor I’m gonna shit. It doesn’t happen. Stop being lazy.

Tubed patients can be awake. True story. They can communicate too. Usually by writing, since having a dirty great tube down the windpipe tends to impede ones ability to talk.

The nursing care is 1:1 on an intubated patient. Awake or not, the nurse is not gonna leave that room. No, not even to give your stricken lover a chance to say goodbye in private. There is no privacy. Honestly, that nurse has probably seen it all before anyway.

ICU isn’t just reserved for intubated patients either. Major surgeries sometimes go here post-op to get intensive care before they’re stepped down. And by major I mean like, grandpa joe is getting his bladder removed because it’s full of cancer.

Palliative patients and patients who are terminal will not go to ICU. Not unless they became terminally ill after hitting ICU. Usually those ones are unexpected deaths. Someone suffering from a long, slow, gradually life draining illness will probably go to a general ward for end of life care. They don’t need the kind of intensive care an ICU provides because…well..they’re not going to get it??

Operations.

No one gets rushed to theatre for a broken limb. Please stop. They can wait for several days before they get surgery on it.

Honestly? No one gets ‘rushed’ to theatre at all. Not unless they are, again, actively dying, and surgery is needed to stop them from actively dying.

Except emergency caesarians. Them babies will always get priority over old mate with the broken hip. A kid stuck in a birth canal and at risk of death by pelvis is a tad more urgent than a gall stone. And the midwives will run. I’ve never seen anyone run as fast as a midwife with a labouring woman on the bed heading to theatres for an emergency caesar.

Surgery doesn’t take as long as you think it does. Repairing a broken limb? Two hours, maybe three tops. Including time spent in recovery. Burst appendix? Half an hour on the table max, maybe an hour in recovery. Caesarian? Forty minutes or so. Major surgeries (organs like kidneys, liver and heart transplants, and major bowel surgeries) take longer.

You’re never going to see the theatre nurses. Ever. They’re like their own little community of fabled myth who get to come to work in their sweatpants and only deal with unconscious people. It’s the ward nurse who does the pick up and drop offs.

Anyway there’s probably way, way more that I’m forgetting to add but this is getting too long to keep writing shit. The moral of the story is do some research so you don’t look like an idiot when you’re writing your characters getting injured or having to be in hospital. It’s not Greys Anatomy in the real world and the angst isn’t going to be any more intense just because you’re writing shit like it is.

Peace up.

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angst writing reference wounds

please... if you’re going to attempt to speak in “old” english

THOU is the subject (Thou art…) THEE is the object (I look at thee) THY is for words beginning in a consonant (Thy hair) THINE is for words beginning in a vowel (Thine eyes)

this has been a psa

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this-is-useful

7 years ago

Masterlist~

RFA:

Theme Park Date

Reacting to MC giving them the cold shoulder

Reacting to a girl asking fem!MC out (+Saeran)

MC shaves her head for cancer charity

MC can purr like a cat

Going grocery shopping (+Saeran)

Delicate/innocent looking MC is actually a memester and swears like a sailor

Writing appears on skin soulmate AU (+Saeran)

RFA/Minor Trio

MC as the world’s greatest detective

Overhearing MC say “I love you” to family member

On Halloween night (w/o Vanderwood)

MC is a professional competitive horse rider

MC just got stung by a bee (w/o Vanderwood)

Headcanons (w/o MC):

RFA/Minor Trio & Avocados

RFA/Minor Trio playing with a Ouija Board

MISC:

Zen reacting to MC nailing the Phantom of the Opera theme ending

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masterlist mystic messenger

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2 years ago

Hey i’m a fashion design student so i have tons and tons of pdfs and docs with basic sewing techniques, pattern how-tos, and resources for fabric and trims. I’ve compiled it all into a shareable folder for anyone who wants to look into sewing and making their own clothing. I’ll be adding to this folder whenever i come across new resources

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16uhmMb8kE4P_vOSycr6XSa9zpmDijZSd?usp=sharing

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7 years ago

Can I get a matchup?^^;Im a rather calm person,with a bit sassy sense of humor.I'm understanding toward others,but more strict toward myself.Daydreaming&saving energy a lot.I hate mess&tend to remind people to take care of themselves a lot if they need it,but I'm not the best example of it even if I try hard;;I love gaining new knowledge,I'm into art as well.Ambitious but lazy tho;;I get scared easily.I dislike doing risky things,but if I feel stressed,I tend to act carelessly.Have a nice day^^;

I match you up with:

Jumin Han

He likes that you’re not a risk taker. Honestly, it relaxes him so much because he knows then that you are less likely to get hurt, and he couldn’t bare for you to get hurt.

He loves that you’re calm but that you can also be quite sassy. He just finds it very refreshing and, to him, it feels like you’re trusting him and opening up. He also likes that you’re understanding, because Jumin will need help and patience to get better. Your little reminders for him to take care of himself makes his day.

However, he will beg you to take care of yourself and to be understanding and patient with yourself, and he will definitely care for you and he’ll be incredibly patient, gentle, and kind with you.

He has maids on hand so there will never be a mess, and he’s quite meticulous himself, doing everything to prevent a mess ever being made in the first place. He also has cooks/chefs so there will never be mess in the kitchen either as they take care of it all themselves.

He likes that you’re ambitious, and he will protect you from anything scary, not particularly being big on scares either unless it’s you messing about and trying to scare him.

I hope this is okay, and take care!

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match up

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7 years ago

Rare English Words 2

Corybantic – frenzied; agitated; unrestrained

Divagate – to wanter; stray

Circumlocution – a roundabout or indirect way or speaking; using more words than necessary

Progenitor – ancestor

Ideate – imagine

Ophidian – of, relating to, or denoting snakes

Lambent – playing lightly on or over a surface; flickering

Disenthrall – free; liberate

Ambrosial – exceptionally pleasing to taste or smell; delicious; fragrant

Perfervid – overwrought or exaggerated emotion; excessively fervent

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this-is-useful

7 years ago

Can I get a matchup?^^;Im a calm person,with a bit sassy humor.Understanding toward others,but more strict toward myself.Daydreaming/random naps anywhere;;Hate mess&tend to remind people to take care of themselves a lot if they need it,but Im not the best example of it even if I try hard;;I love gaining new knowledge,Im into art as well.Ambitious but lazy;;Get scared easily.Dislike doing risky things,but if I feel stressed,I tend to act carelessly.I dont seem but love cuddling~Have a nice day^^;

Ooh, this one’s a little tougher! Tbh, I’d ship you with Saeyoung!

He’d love your sassy side, but also enjoy how you remind him to take care of himself. Once he noticed that you dislike clutter, he may even try to tidy up after himself a bit better by not leaving his dirty clothes lying around, and attempting to sweep up crumbs and such so you don’t have to. He’s got a plethora of “useless” knowledge about plenty of things, and I’m sure he’d love to share all that with you (even if he pushes you away at first~) If he notices that you’re afraid or anxious, he’d likely wrap you up in his jacket and hum softly for you to help you calm down, and we all know he totally down for cuddling. You may wanna watch the risky behavior, though, cause that may tempt him into coaxing out both your wild sides. ;)

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match up

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6 years ago

dealing with the worst case scenario

your condom breaks

you feel a lump on your breast

your friends are ignoring you

you’re stranded on an island

you got rejected by a crush

you get into a car accident

you got stung by a bee/wasp

you got fired from your job

you’re in an earthquake

your tattoo gets infected

your house is on fire

you’re lost in the woods

you get arrested abroad

you get robbed

your partner cheated on you

you’re on a ship that’s sinking

you fall into ice

you’re stuck in an elevator

you hit a deer with your car

you have food poisoning

your pet passed away

you fall off of a horse

you or your friend has alcohol poisoning

you have toxic shock syndrome

your house has a gas leak

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7 years ago

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7 years ago

Eating for clear skin

Guys, I used to have horrible acne.

Like hide my face, refuse to go to school, and smother my skin in 100 different products horrible acne.

It made me feel incredibly self conscious and every time someone looked at me, I thought they were just looking at my skin and thinking about how bad it was. I hated it.

Of course I tried to fix it with cleansers and creams and miracle whatever, but nothing worked. It wasn’t until I started paying close attention to what I ate and how it affected my skin that my acne started to clear up.

Here’s a quick list of diet related tips to keep your skin acne free:

1. Avoid dairy, alcohol, and sugar. So like, definitely no Bailey’s milkshakes lol. But seriously, all 3 of these are incredibly inflammatory to the body and acne is, essentially, just inflammation. So if you want to reduce acne, the best way to do it is to reduce inflammation in your body. And one of the best ways to do THAT is to cut out these 3 things.

2. Eat 8-10 servings of fruit and vegetables a day. I know this sounds like a lot, but you can easily fit ~6 servings in to a single smoothie!! Fruits and veggies contain antioxidants and phytonutrients and micronutrients and so many other incredible things that are good for your skin! The more the merrier!

3. Take an Omega 3 supplement (preferably vegan). Why? Because omega 3s reduce inflammation in the body!!! I take a vegan omega 3 supplement sourced from algae and it has reduced the redness in my skin dramatically. I noticed a difference only within a month too!

4. Try collagen. Collagen is honestly so good for you. I know it comes from animals so my vegan friends will want to avoid this. But taking collagen everyday has made, hands down, the most dramatic difference in my skin. Collagen smooths your skin making it plumper, softer, and more even. It can also help heal the lining in your gut and a happy gut is a happy life! Just make sure to order collagen from an ethical company that sources it from grass fed pasture raised bovine. And if you don’t want to take collagen…

5. Eat lots of Vitamin C. Vitamin C works to protect the skin, as well as stimulate the production of collagen in the body!!

6. Put fresh turmeric root in your smoothie. Turmeric is one of the most powerful anti inflammatories on the planet. I drink a little bit of fresh turmeric root (along with black pepper to increase the bioavailability of the active ingredient, curcumin) every day to shrink existing pimples, as well as to decrease the redness in my face. This stuff is awesome and a little bit goes a long way!

7. Eat fermented foods or take a probiotic supplement. Your gut is responsible for nearly every aspect of your health, so when your gut is happy and healthy, your skin will be too. And not only do they help with your skin, they can also regulate your digestive sustem, treat mental illnesses, decrease bloating, and help you lose weight! I like to eat lots of kimchi, sauerkraut, and of course kombucha to get a daily dose of probiotics.

Wow ok that was a lot more thorough than I intended lol but I hope this was helpful! Feel free to ask me any questions, I would love to explain any of these further. Xoxo

Insta: kellyeatskale

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