Exsanguination
Encyclopedia
Exsanguination is the fatal process of hypovolemia
Hypovolemia
In physiology and medicine, hypovolemia is a state of decreased blood volume; more specifically, decrease in volume of blood plasma...

 (blood loss), to a degree sufficient enough to cause death. One does not have to lose literally all of one's blood to cause death. Depending upon the age, health, and fitness level of the individual, people can die from losing half or two-thirds of their blood; a loss of roughly one-third of the blood volume is considered very serious- even a single deep cut can warrant suturing and hospitalization, especially if trauma, a vein or artery, or another co-morbidity is involved. It is most commonly known as "bleeding
Bleeding
Bleeding, technically known as hemorrhaging or haemorrhaging is the loss of blood or blood escape from the circulatory system...

 to death". The word itself originated from Latin: ex ("out of") and sanguis ("blood").

Slaughter of animals in meat industry

Exsanguination is used as a method of slaughter
Animal slaughter
Slaughter is the term used to describe the killing and butchering of animals, usually for food. Commonly it refers to killing and butchering of domestic livestock ....

 where, before the incision is made, the animal, depending on species, is rendered insensible to pain by various methods, including captive bolt
Captive bolt pistol
A captive bolt pistol is a device used for stunning animals prior to slaughter....

, electricity or chemical. Without prior sedation, stunning or anesthetic, this method of slaughter causes a high degree of anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...

 and should not be used alone. The captive bolt is placed against the skull of the animal, and penetrates to cause tissue destruction in the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...

, incapacitating the animal so that the procedure may take place. Electricity is used mostly in porcine, poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...

 and domestic sheep
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...

, whereas chemical is used in injured livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

.

While the animal is incapacitated, a pointed knife is fully inserted through the skin just behind the point of the jaw
Jaw
The jaw is any opposable articulated structure at the entrance of the mouth, typically used for grasping and manipulating food. The term jaws is also broadly applied to the whole of the structures constituting the vault of the mouth and serving to open and close it and is part of the body plan of...

 and below the neck bones. From this position, the knife is drawn forward severing the jugular vein
Jugular vein
The jugular veins are veins that bring deoxygenated blood from the head back to the heart via the superior vena cava.-Internal and external:There are two sets of jugular veins: external and internal....

, carotid artery
Carotid artery
Carotid artery can refer to:* Common carotid artery* External carotid artery* Internal carotid artery...

, and trachea. Properly performed, blood should flow freely with death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....

 occurring within a few minutes. Sometimes the same procedure is repeated on the other side of the neck, severing vein and artery on the other side.

Beyond the initial cost of purchasing a captive bolt, continued usage of the method is very inexpensive. The animal is incapacitated for the duration of the procedure, so it is one of the safest methods for the slaughterer.

Slaughter by exsanguination is mandated by Judaic kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...

 (kosher) and Islamic halal
Halal
Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...

 dietary laws. The double edged pointed knife is prohibited. Instead, a long knife with a squared off end is used that in Jewish law must be at least twice the width of the animal's neck. The operation of sticking or exsanguination is executed faster than when using the pointed knife, as four large blood vessels in the neck are severed simultaneously.

A 1978 study at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover
University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover
The University of Veterinary Medicine Hanover is a university in Hanover and one of the five facilities for veterinary medicine in Germany, and the only one that remains independent. It is often referred to as TiHo by its staff and students....

 indicates that these traditional methods, when executed as prescribed by the religious authorities, gave comparable results as animals stunned with a captive bolt pistol.

In Islamic
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...

 and Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

, captive bolts and other methods of pre-slaughter paralysis are generally not permissible, as consumption of animals found dead are regarded as carrion
Carrion
Carrion refers to the carcass of a dead animal. Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters include vultures, hawks, eagles, hyenas, Virginia Opossum, Tasmanian Devils, coyotes, Komodo dragons, and burying beetles...

 and stunned animals that are later killed will come into this category.

Various halal food authorities have more recently permitted the use of a recently developed fail-safe
Fail-safe
A fail-safe or fail-secure device is one that, in the event of failure, responds in a way that will cause no harm, or at least a minimum of harm, to other devices or danger to personnel....

 system of head-only stunning using a mushroom shaped hammer head that delivers a blow that is not fatal, proved by it being possible to reverse the procedure and revive the animal after the shock.

Cause of human death

Exsanguination is a relatively uncommon and dramatic cause of death in humans.

Traumatic injury can cause exsanguination if bleeding is not stymied. It is the most common cause of death on the battlefield. Non-battlefield causes can include murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

 by shooting or stabbing; motor vehicle accidents; suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 by cutting arteries, typically those in the wrists; and partial or complete amputation
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...

 of limbs with circular saw
Circular saw
The circular saw is a machine using a toothed metal cutting disc or blade. The term is also loosely used for the blade itself. The blade is a tool for cutting wood or other materials and may be hand-held or table-mounted. It can also be used to make narrow slots...

s and chain saws.

Patients can also develop catastrophic internal hemorrhages, such as from a bleeding peptic ulcer
Peptic ulcer
A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. It is defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm...

 or splenic
Spleen
The spleen is an organ found in virtually all vertebrate animals with important roles in regard to red blood cells and the immune system. In humans, it is located in the left upper quadrant of the abdomen. It removes old red blood cells and holds a reserve of blood in case of hemorrhagic shock...

 hemorrhage, which can cause exsanguination even without any external bleeding. Another cause of exsanguination in the medical field is that of aneurysm
Aneurysm
An aneurysm or aneurism is a localized, blood-filled balloon-like bulge in the wall of a blood vessel. Aneurysms can commonly occur in arteries at the base of the brain and an aortic aneurysm occurs in the main artery carrying blood from the left ventricle of the heart...

s. If a dissecting aortic aneurysm ruptures through the adventitia, this can result in massive hemorrhage and exsanguination in a matter of minutes. It is a relatively common cause of unexpected, sudden death in patients who seemed previously well. Blunt force trauma to the liver, kidneys, and spleen can cause severe internal bleeding as well, though the abdominal cavity usually becomes visibly darkened as if bruised. Similarly, trauma to the lungs can cause bleeding out, though without medical attention blood can fill the lungs causing drowning, or in the pleura causing suffocation, well before exsanguination would occur. In addition, serious trauma can cause tearing of major blood vessels without external trauma indicative of the damage.

Alcoholics and others with liver disease can also suffer from exsanguination. Thin-walled, normally low pressure dilated veins just below the lower esophageal mucosa called esophageal varices
Esophageal varices
In medicine , esophageal varices are extremely dilated sub-mucosal veins in the lower esophagus...

 may ulcerate or be torn ("Mallory-Weiss syndrome
Mallory-Weiss syndrome
Mallory–Weiss syndrome or gastro-esophageal laceration syndrome refers to bleeding from tears in the mucosa at the junction of the stomach and esophagus, usually caused by severe retching, coughing, or vomiting.-Causes:...

") during the violent vomiting of the alcohol leading to massive bleeding and sometimes exsanguination. The impaired liver function also reduces the availability of clotting factors (many of which are made in the liver), making any rupture in vessels more likely to cause a fatal loss of blood.
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