Exsanguination

Exsanguination is losing enough blood to cause death. A person does not have to lose all of their blood to exsanguinate. People can die from losing half to two-thirds of their blood.^[1]

The average adult has about 4 to 6 liters of blood (9 to 12 US pints) in their body. The average man has more blood than the average woman (who has 4 to 5 liters), and people who weigh more or are taller than others have more blood.^[1] This means a person can die from losing 2 ¹/₂ to 4 liters of blood. To compare, this is five to eight times as much blood as people usually give in a blood donation.^[2]

Babies (have about one cup of blood) and children have much less blood than adults, and can exsanguinate much easier by losing less blood than adults.^[3] The liver can and does store up to one pint of blood.

Exsanguination is often called bleeding to death or bleeding out. It is a medical emergency.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Mistovich, Joseph J.; Karren, Keith J.; Hafen, Brent (July 18, 2013). Prehospital Emergency Care (10th ed.). Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0133369137.
2. ↑ "Blood donation: What you can expect". Mayo Clinic. May 30, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
3. ↑ Sanders, Mick J.; McKenna, Kim D.; et al. (2011). Mosby's Paramedic Textbook. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. ISBN 9780323072755.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)