I have a Medical Question!

Help please!

One of my characters is attacked from behind by someone who is trying to slit her throat. She manages to escape him by falling into the river. So, for story purposes, her throat has to be cut in some way and she has to live. How can I achieve this? Would the water pressure stop the blood loss from being too much? How long would she be able to stay alive, if she didn't drown first? How deep could the cut before it's impossible for her to survive?

Thanks!

@LittleBear Yes, it depends on whether the wound was deep enough to damage the major vessels in the neck, the jugular vein, and carotid artery. If either of these were cut, She chances would be slim if not nonexistent.

First, to achieve this you will need to not get the character cut around the Trache area, it needs to be closer to the jaw for your character not to die. Closer to the chest if fine but can still be dangerous

Second, How cold is the river because cold it is. The more cold water, more pressure there is

Third, The Carotid is approximately 1.5″ below the surface of the skin, and if severed unconsciousness, will result in death in approximately 5-15 seconds. but it is the purpose for them to survive if they cover it up or if they have Tranexamic acid (Tranexamic acid is given to stop or reduce heavy bleeding. When you bleed, your body forms clots to stop the bleeding.)

Fourth, if it cuts to her Carotid Artery then she is dead. The common carotid artery exhibited the closest average distance to the skin (23.5 +/- 6.9 mm) whereas the internal carotid artery exhibited the closest average distance to the vertebral body (7.36 +/- 3.8 mm, measured to the transverse process).

@Stroylia-Knight, thanks so much! A friend of mine said:

If the cut to the throat is only in the middle and slices into the trachea the person can live easily. Emergency tracheotomy is a procedure that does just that. The character would need to squeeze the spot while in the river so that water wouldn't run into the lungs (needs to plug the hole), and would need to find a way to stop bleeding fairly soon. The biggest complication would be drowning in the blood (too much blood running from cut into the trachea). As long as the carotid and jugular are not hit, there is a good chance of survival. Those are located on the lateral neck so the cut could be a couple of inches wide and 1-2 cm deep before it causes a serious problem.

Would this plus your notes work/ be medically plausible? Thanks again!

Yes, but you have to remember that if the trachea get hurt then Windpipe injuries can happen and it can lead to a problem and yes, your friend and my notes together would be medically plausible