Futuristic war-torn society.
My main character, Ian, just saved his commander's live, taking a blow from the butt of a rifle that potentially would have killed the man. Fortunately, Ian was wearing his helmet. Unfortunately, the blow was pretty heavy, damaging the helmet and giving Ian a severe concussion.
What are some possible side-effects? What I've got now is that he passes out on the spot and proves hard to wake up. When he does wake up, he's groggy and slow to respond. He passes out again shortly thereafter. What else would happen? How do you treat a concussion?
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I write what I know. In this case, I know band.
50,718 / 50,000
Mayo 8, 2008 - 20 10
I don't know a whole lot about concussions, but I do know that if you suspect that you have one, do NOT fall asleep for more than two hours at a time. Apparently that's really bad.
My friend fell down the stairs recently, and she had to set an alarm every two hours throughout the night.
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80,557 / 50,000
Mayo 8, 2008 - 23 15
Try this web site
http://www.webmd.com/search/search_results/default.aspx?query=concussion...
good luck
RLP
55,232 / 50,000
Mayo 8, 2008 - 23 39
The signs and symptoms of a concussion can be subtle and may not appear immediately. Symptoms can last for days, weeks or longer.
The two most common concussion symptoms are confusion and amnesia. The amnesia, which may or may not be preceded by a loss of consciousness, almost always involves the loss of memory of the impact that caused the concussion.
Other immediate signs and symptoms of a concussion may include:
Headache
Dizziness
Ringing in the ears
Nausea or vomiting
Slurred speech
Some symptoms of concussions don't appear until hours or days later. They include:
Mood and cognitive disturbances
Sensitivity to light and noise
Sleep disturbances
I'm not realy sure what the treatment is.
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2007: Project I-12 (WINNER AND FINISHED!)
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If it's in the forum, and it doesn't make sence, then I probably posted it.
0 / 50,000
Mayo 10, 2008 - 10 59
I've had concussions, I'll see if I can help.
When you get a concussion, you typically can't remember what happened right before you went unconcious, kind of like when you faint. It's common to not remember what happened before or after either. I don't remember much of the night when I got mine.
You can sleep if you are not vomitting and are aware of what's going on. Also, if it was hard to get them to regain conciousness they shouldn't go to sleep. If yours is very severe, you will probably have to spend time in the hospital.
All the symptoms posted above are good. At first, I was much more tired than I used to be but I do know others who had the opposite happen to them. I found that headaches and memory loss stay for the longest, possibly never going entirely away (it's been two years for me, and I'm still worse than before).
Hope this helped!
0 / 50,000
Mayo 10, 2008 - 16 17
Both my friend and I have had concussions, but we had separate experiences.
His happend when we were sword fighting (plastic swords). Our other friend spun his sword in a vertical circle when he was blocked on instinct, and it came down on our friend's head. He fell to the ground, and can't remember being hit, or any of the morning before that. He only remembers getting up from the ground and having a pretty good head ache.
I got mine playing lacrosse. Another player and I crashed into each other head first, at full speed. I was knocked to the ground, but I remember being hit, just not falling. I can remember everything before it to. My worst part of it, was I wasn't able to turn my head to either side for about a week because my neck was so stiff.
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20,646 / 50,000
Mayo 10, 2008 - 19 13
Gotta love webmd - I used this for a bit of a story
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/concussion
50,652 / 50,000
Mayo 10, 2008 - 20 04
I got a concussion while skiing and I couldn't remember anything before or after the accident. Apparently I fell backward and banged my head against the end of the ski and hit the vunerable part of the back of my head and got knocked out that way. From what I've been told, I couldn't see at all when I was conscious again and I did go to the hospitol. I don't remember being groggy, but I definitely didn't move much. At one point when I was walked around the hospitol it was just easier to close my eyes and walk than to keep them open.
0 / 50,000
Mayo 11, 2008 - 09 36
My friend plays lacrosse and got a concussion during finals week on the day that he studied for his math test. The result? He had to study again because he forgot everything that he studied.
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25,000 / 50,000
Mayo 12, 2008 - 17 49
Okay. I've figured out the way that the concussion will work.
After he's hit, he does pass out and his commander brings him to, but he's still kind of floating on that fine line between conscious and unconscious. Unfortunately, he's on one side of the battlefield and the medics are on the exact opposite and only one is able to move. Ian must be carried across the battlefield.
What would be the best way to move him quickly, efficiently, and safely, knowing that he can't really move by himself, meaning supporting him while he walks is out of the question?
----------I write what I know. In this case, I know band.
50,130 / 50,000
Mayo 13, 2008 - 17 20
First off, about concussions: depending on how bad it is, there could be short-term or long-term confusion. The "Dont sleep two hours" thing is due to the risk of a subdural hematoma. If there's a ruptured blood vessel in the brain, or significant brain swelling, that might not become obvious until several hours afterward. If the person is sleeping, the symptoms of this (slurred speech, uncoordinated movements, and un-balanced dilation of the eyes) would not be visible. Concussed patients are woken every couple of hours to check for symptoms of an aneurism.
If an aneurism or hematoma is present, the most common treatment is trepanation. That involves drilling or sawing a hole in the skull to relieve pressure on the swollen brain. The bone flap is replaced after the swelling subsides. While it sounds extreme, there is evidence of successful trepanations occurring in ancient times.
Now, as for evacuating your concussed soldier: Ideally, you have a stretcher to carry, or at least a travois (triangular wooden frame) to drag behind a horse. Failing that, you can carry him out. If you have one person, the fireman's carry is possible, but unleess it is a small person being carried by a large person, they would have to stop and rest every few hundred feet. If there are two people, they can carry him by interlocking one set of hands to form a "seat," and interlocking another set of hands to form a "backrest." Here's a web page that describes this technique in detail:
http://fems.dc.gov/fems/cwp/view,A,3,Q,638186.asp
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