Since Dr. Saayman's testimony was blacked out, none of us know exactly what he said. We're left to pick at the pitiful scraps of excerpts the media deemed worthy of reporting.
I knew problems would arise when the Judge ruled that his testimony wouldn't be televised, and here we are.
We know her heart and liver were pale (ischemic i.e. insufficient blood flow) - due to severe blood loss from the gunshot wounds.
The liver is the most vascularized organ in the human body. 20% of the cardiac output rushes through it.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21452433
The fact that Reeva's liver was pale tells me that she suffered significant enough blood loss to the point that her liver became ischemic.
A person doesn't have to lose their entire blood volume to die from blood loss.
Class III Hemorrhage involves loss of 30-40% of circulating blood volume. The patient's blood pressure drops, the heart rate increases, peripheral hypoperfusion (shock), such as capillary refill worsens, and the mental status worsens. Fluid resuscitation with crystalloid and blood transfusion are usually necessary.
Class IV Hemorrhage involves loss of >40% of circulating blood volume. The limit of the body's compensation is reached and aggressive resuscitation is required to prevent death.
Bleeding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
According to the above information, as blood loss reaches 30-40% of circulating blood volume, the heart rate increases. This could account for the arterial spurts that Col van der Nest testified to.
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