linkfanpc wrote:Did anyone ever truly believe this crap? I always saw it as "Okay instead of letting the poison get in your arm suck it into your mouth with a good chance of poisoning from ingestion. Equal threat. Yay!"
Suck and spit... the rescuer getting poisoned is one of the dangers of doing it, it bleeds out the victim and doesn't get enough of the poison out to matter, leaving them more vulnerable and a system weakened to the oncoming shock to the system. Yes, they believed it. It was in the Boy Scout and Red Cross first aid manuals for decades. More modern studies showed it didn't really help, and could cause more complications than it potentially helps.
linkfanpc wrote:Did ancient people ever use tourniquets? Also with the sheer danger that comes with using them i don't think they'd be viable, or even do much.
They're used in major surgery to decrease blood flow to limbs. They're used by first responders to staunch blood loss quickly so that other means can be used to help stop the bleeding via the bodies own clotting mechanics or even added clotting agents if necessary. In emergency situations, though, they're a last resort if no other means can stop blood loss--the risk for loss of life is so great that losing a limb would be preferable.
As far as ancient peoples... Limbs have been amputated for several thousand years now. Without a tourniquet during such a process, the patient is going to die. If any of the 5 major arteries are severed, such as would intentionally be done during an amputation, you'll bleed out in just a few minutes.
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