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And before anyone gets big ideas about the chloroform, it is not pure chloroform; it is generally contaminated by phosgene, which is truly terrible stuff.


During a wasted youth I poured over hundreds of The Hardy Boys Casefiles, where they'd receive and recover from a traumatic brain injury 3-5 nights a week (getting "knocked out").

Thanks to your comment I now know the other nights, where they were not rendered unconscious by blunt trauma, but rather through a rag of chloroform, they were probably inhaling phosgene too.

Those boys were sure putting their futures at risk!


Hah, same. Between The Hardy Boys and silly TV crime dramas I think a lot of kids got the wrong impression about getting "knocked out". It turns out that pretty much anything that can cause unconsciousness is also likely to cause death or serious permanent injury.


But everyone knows a tap on the head causes instant unconsciousness!



Can you explain the chest wound on your right side part?


In the movies, a chest wound (like a gun shot) on the right side means, "Phew, it missed their heart!"

IRL, that injury on either side is equally worrying.


Even with chloroform, it is not like the movies, "here, does this rag smell like chloroform?".

It's probably five minutes of steady inhalation while your mouth and nose are covered by a rag (not held above your face).

Not particularly practical.

Source: my EMT class on poisons and ODs, thank you very much.




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