quick post about buck's canon (and non canon) injuries from the lightning strike

yes! i know i said i wouldn't do this today, but after the episode i can't just, shut up about everything. so this is a very quick, non citated version of a longer post i had in mind.

first of all, let's start with what we know: buck's canonical injuries.

lightning strikes have a mortality rate of around 10-30%, direct strike being the mechanism with the highest rate (30%), and also the highest morbility rates.

lightning strike can cause cardiac arrest- which is what happened to buck- and it's been proved that prolongated resucitation (CPR or shock) is very succesful, so the only determining factor could be the fact that he was in full arrest for three minutes. most case reports with good prognosis are the ones where CRP was administered within the minute. EVEN SO, cardiac arrest can lead to serious brain damage, as is often referenced in media (the 5 minute rule). what we know is that buck was in cardiac arrest for 3 minutes before CPR started, from which a fraction of the necessary oxigen starts mechanically flowing through to his brain, so this should definitively mean brain damage (in what degree is variable). now, we know that is not the case in canon. this will be further discussed in another post!

2. the lightning entered through his hand, all the way through his midline and out near his knee, could have (definitely has) some damage to major organs.

this means: burn scars!! we were all fixating over the lichtenberg figures, but these are temporary, now, burns from lightning tend to be superficial because of the short exposure to extreme heat, and being wet (like, rain or sweat) is actually a protective factor, but it's been reported that direct strike victims have enter and exit burns, around 2-3 inches in diameter, and they can look like big blisters, irritated skin, and even a bit of charred skin.

it also means, he didn't get hit though the head or anywhere near, so the potential electrical damage to his brain is less. in fact, respiratory arrest can happen if lightning goes through the brain stem, which has the respiratory center. so, good for buck! (also, since he was wearing a helmet, this could have also helped absorbe a lot of the impact, so the damage wouldn't have been as extensive. there is a case report on a football player who survived because of his helmet).

3. lung contusion.

from all the things they could have chosen, they went with one of the rarest ones! kudos for the writting team, they did their research! lung contusion happens because a lightning strike is very similar to being next to an exploding grenade. lightning causes a rapid increasse in pressure around the channel, creating a blast wave, which is responsible for most of the traumatic injuries, for example, it can throw a person several feet from where they were hit. it also can blast your shoes off.

in buck's case, the blast plus the fall caused great trauma on his chest, which explains the lung contusion. this is just like a giant bruise, but in very, very delicate tissue: the lung is like a big sponge, filled with tiny capillars in charge of sending oxygen though the body. when bruised, these capillars break massively, which leads to blood filling the lung. in this case, it caused respiratory failure because there was no space for the oxygen to even get to the capillars, because the holes of this sponge-like tissue were filled with blood.

(now, i had to laugh during the episode because they showed buck saturating 90mmHg, when respiratory failure is considered when the patient saturates less than 60mmHg.)

RESPIRATORY FAILURE CAN BE FATAL. case reports of direct strike victims with lung contusion are some of that 30% i was talking about before. in buck's case, he was treated in time, so it makes sense he could recover. but it's definitely not as easy, and it can also lead to other organ's failure.

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alright besties, this is all i can do right now, but this post will be continued! and as soon as i get my sources back i can link you to all the studies i referenced. this is all from the top of my head btw. i got classs early tomorrow, so enjoy!! i'll be back with more buck whump resources later!! stay tuned to hear me talk about all the heart issues and metaphors we can get from this.