180 pounds, male, in good shape, a cut to the leg
How many litres of blood would that person need to lose to be certain that he is going to die.
2007-11-19 14:06:33 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
"Frodo's" on line calculator is very interesting - but the baseline employed is the drop in Hemoglobin to 10 grams which is the point at which surgeons start considering transfusions. I put in data for a 75 kg man expecting that he could drop his Hgb from 15 to 7 fairly acutely and still survive if he is young and otherwise healthy with good cardiac and pulmonary function. The answer is close to three liters of blood loss - or roughly half the normal total blood volume - before high risk of death.
My guess = over three liters ->-> look out.
That's the equivalent of ~six units of whole blood.
This is just a guess though. I suspect Dr. Mengele tried this out at Auschwitz in 1943-44. It will vary from person to person. The body is amazingly resilient.
To be "certain" he is going to die - tough request.
There are not many certainties in this hypothetical situation.
To be truly close to "certain" - four to five liters.
2007-11-19 17:41:38 · answer #1 · answered by Spreedog 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
A person has 12-14 pints of blood in their system depending on weight and such. I have seen people loose half of their blood volume and with transfused blood products and plasma expanders, be able to survive. The lowest Hemoglobin result I have seen was 3 with an hematocrit of 5. If the normals for these are hemoglobin (~~14 give or take depending on where you are) and hematocrit (~~35), and you loose approximately one gram of hemoglobin for every pint of blood lost.......I say they lost about 10 pints. This is an extreme case, and this person did not survive.
2007-11-20 08:57:43 · answer #2 · answered by Jess 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think the average person has about 12 pints of blood. Mine got down to 6 and they were shocked that I even made it to the ER.
2016-04-04 23:24:57 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
the average adult would have to lose approx 4 pints of blood before death would occur. you'll have to convert that to liters..i've been at work all day and my brain is tired!
2007-11-19 14:18:58 · answer #4 · answered by Amy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Answer depends on more variables than you covered. Here is an on-line calculator.
2007-11-19 14:24:29 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋