Question : How do people survive their whole hands being cut off if just slitting your wrist could kill you?

Answer:first of all, the blood circulation system works a little different than you think. Blood does not go ‘all the way around’. There is more than just one circulation of blood. Take a look at this picture:

From the left atrium (right on the picture) the heart pumps blood into the aorta. The aorta then splits into several arteries. One goes to your head, one goes to your liver, one goes to your kidneys, and there is one that goes through your arm. On it’s way back all the arteries come together again, go to your right atrium, into your longs lungs and then back into your left atrium.

When your hands are cut off, it is true that the circulation can’t go on in your arm because all the blood is streaming out. However, this does not mean that the circulation in the other parts of your body can’t go on, because these circulations are not directly connected to the circulation in your arm.

If the bleeding isn’t stopped when your hand is cut off, eventually you will die because of blood loss. Usually the first thing the paramedics do when your hand is cut off is to apply a tourniquet just above the wound. This makes sure the arteries are closed so that no more blood can flow through, so that the patient doesn’t die of bloodloss. In the hospital the doctors make sure that the wound is closed and no more blood will be lost, so that the arm can heal itself again.

If somebody slits his/her wrists to kill him/herself, he or she is not intent on stopping the bleeding. If the bleeding isn’t stopped eventually that person will lose conciousness from bloodloss, and after a while that person will die.