Young Writers Society

Alrighty! This is for my novel- thank god the question isn't related to real life!!

My protagonist got into a fight. It caused him a broken arm, bruises all over his face, black puffed eyes and a small cut along his cheekbone. Also, he has a few bruises on his stomach. Will they give him pain killers, or tell him to take some when he needs it? I mean, what will they give him ans when?
Also, will his eyes get puffed up at once? Or after a few hours?
Oh, I also don't know for how long will he faint, not to mention that I want him to wake up after they put his arm in a cast. Help me out!!!

Thank you

Just for clarification, this is set in modern times? Also, what will he faint from?

If the protagonist is veteran, or seemed to know what he's doing, then there's nothing that would stop him from taking some morphine himself, provided with some medical justification afterwards.
But if he passed out and the doctor's taking care of him while he's blank, then I don't know. =P

Uh, I am absolutely no expert, but I'm pretty sure it's a no on the morphine. Maybe some strong-dose ibuprofen. Especially afterward, after he's released. So, they might give him an IV with something in it. After he's released, maybe a prescription for the ramped-up ibuprofen. I mean, bruises and swollen eyes and cuts kinda suck, but they're not morphine worthy. And in the time before medical morphine, people survived broken limbs just fine. So broken arm is also not morphine-worthy.

Again, though, I'm no expert on any of this. And I kind of hope to stay that way. *knocks on wood*

Yes! Something up my alley!

1. If he's in a fist fight and his abdomen is bruised, they're most assuredly going to take him in to see if there's any internal bleeding. This is a big deal. But if everything checks out, than no, they won't give him anything. (the doctor might reccomend ibu. for a couple of days, but that's about it.) If there IS problems, well then your guy is in trouble and there's probably going to be surgery. Again, they won't use morphine.
2. If the ambulance/E.M. showed up at the scene of the fight, and he's unconscience, there going to treat that as a "Life threatening condition" and take him in. If they think he suffered from severe head truama, they might give him a morphine drip on the way to the hospital. Why? Ask the EMT's
3. If he walks in to the hospital on his own, no they won't give him morphine. And yes, it's illegal to own it/administer it except if he has a "medical condition" which calls for it.

....
Oh yeah, about the eyes:
1. No, they won't swell up right away
and
2. they probably won't swell up.
Usually, whenever someone gets it in the eye, it takes a couple of hours before it turns color. If he got clunked in the cheek, the cheek will probably swell up, esp. below the socket, and yes will cause the eye to "swell shut." Of course, all the black eyes I've seen have been from something less serious than a fight, and so depending on the severity of the injury....
whatever, blah blah blah blah. His eye will turn color and swell in 1-3 hours.

About fainting:
If its from the pain, then he could wake up right away. Its very unusual to have someone out for hours if they just...faint.
(A couple of minutes maybe, maybe an hour. it's not usually like in the movies, where the guy passes out for like, a day. Unless they're very weak but still...)
Not to be confused with getting KNOCKED out, in which case you have serious problems, and yes, he could be out for a couple of hours/the day/the couple of days that he's in the hospital.

Will they give him pain killers, or tell him to take some when he needs it? I mean, what will they give him ans when?

I don't think they'd jump straight to morphine, especially if they don't know his medical history (it was sort of implied that he blacked out, then was suddenly taken to the hospital without actually speaking to a medical professional). Morphine can be extremely addictive; this drug is a narcotic and isn't something they would give to random guys that just got in a brawl.

It sounds like the broken arm is the "worst" injury. Yeah, bruises hurt like hell, but a badly broken bone wouldn't feel so good either. If it wasn't giving him much discomfort, I would say a few large doses of ibuprofen or something similar. If it was a little more painful than everyone expected, he might be given acetaminophen with codeine. Codeine is a mild opiate, another narcotic, and it eventually breaks down into morphine once it has reached the liver. The withdrawals are not as bad. I'm not a doctor, but I've worked in a hospital pharmacy. Please, no one chop my head off. I've seen acetaminophen with codeine prescribed for broken bones before, but I don't think it's always the case. I'm just giving you my two cents. I don't know everything about this stuff, but I hope my personal experiences can help you.