XPost: rec.games.frp.gurps   
   From: NoSpamForMeThanks@si.rr.com   
      
   "Shawn Wilson"  wrote in message   
   news:adbf7c8c.0408270755.773067b6@posting.google.com...   
   > "James Stein"  wrote in message   
   news:<1SzXc.25810$Ot3.25050@twister.nyc.rr.com>...   
   >   
   > > It's not so much suffocation in the classical sense so much as it's an   
   > > inability to get the lungs to continue expanding/deflating.   
   > >   
   > > And I have no idea how to express that in game stat terms.   
   >   
   >   
   > From what I understand it's actually drowning from fluid buildup in   
   > the lungs.  Note the Biblical reference to water pouring from the   
   > spear wound.   
      
   The fluid buildup comes from the damage to blood vessels (rupture) caused by   
   the lack of oxygen.   
      
   As the victim brings his weight down on his chest, the diaphragm is forced   
   into such a position as put him in an almost constant state of inhalation   
   (without the ability to exhale, since the muscles are so stretched.)   
      
   Suffocation usually follows, and pretty quickly. But if you last a while   
   (like if they don't break your legs, or you have really strong arms, either   
   or both of which could let you relieve the pressure on your chest and let   
   you last a little longer) then the accruing buildup of damage to blood   
   vessels would cause fluid to diffuse out into the body (including the lungs   
   and the pericardial sac.)   
      
   The pulmonary edema (liquid in the lungs) isn't enough to cause death, but   
   it /is/ enough to make breathing more difficult (both because the lungs are   
   stiffer, and because there's damage of the alveoli, the former making the   
   physical motions of inhalation/exhalation that much more difficult, the   
   latter makes CO2 and O2 transfer more difficult.)   
      
   The liquid in the lungs being enough to actually drown someone nears   
   impossibility. It'd have to be enough to fill the lungs up to the bronchs,   
   and if your lungs have that much fluid in them... well, that's a secondary   
   concern.   
      
   I don't know about the water from the spear wound. I'm not up on my bible   
   study. I'm just pre-med.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)