Amputation when bitten
I wanted to ask does it help when you aputate your leg/arm when its bitten by a zombie? I mean it didnt help lee... Maybe he should have cut it off at the moment he was bitten? We also see (if we save Pete) that he is prepered to cut of his leg. So does it help?
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Yes it helps, but you have to do it as soon as possible.
The reason it didn't work for Lee was he passed out before the amptuation, so enough time passed for the infection to spread.
In the case of Hershel Greene (in the TV series), it is implied that amputating immediately can save a person's life (if they survive the amputation).
In Pete's case, there's no way of knowing until we play it, but I wouldn't get my hopes up... It is a long enough walk back to the cabin that they were able to show us the whole sequence of Clem, Pete, and Nick walking to the river (where Pete tells Clem about Nick almost shooting him in the stomach).
As seen in the tv series when Hershel was bitten, Rick chopped off his leg within no more than 2 or 3 minutes and he survived. In Lee's case, he didn't chop his arm off for a good while in which we saw it was too late. Pete's bite on his leg will also be too late.
It helps,but i think the real problem is the blood loss.
You can see differences if you cut off your arm.Lee didn't passed out when he was climbing in the elevator,and did not fall to the ground when he was in the attic.
I guess we have to play by Kirkman's rules, since it's his universe. --- SPOILERS AHEAD ---
In the comics 3 people have had their bitten body parts amputated so far if I remember correctly:
Allen, bitten in leg - leg has been cut off by Rick with an axe - Hershel stopped the bleeding / Died
Dale, bitten in leg - leg has been cut off by Rick with a saw - Alice stopped the bleeding / Survived
Morgan, bitten in arm - arm has been cut off by Michonne with her Katana - Dr. Cloyd stopped the bleeding / Died
As far as I can tell the bite itself can't kill you anymore if you cut off the bitten body part. But it has do be done fast and properly. You need someone with medical skills to stop the bleeding and prevent the wound from getting infected.
Lee probably died due to blood loss or infection. Those are not to be underestimated.
strictly speaking to Lee's situation... if you leave the arm, he looks more "walker" like... if you do amputate it he still looks like crap (cant say i blame him!) but much less like a walker... this leads me to agree with your statement of "the bite can't kill you anymore if you cut off the bitten body part."
i have always wondered, if you do choose to amputate it, could it be possible that Lee's fatigue and imminent death are in fact due solely to the amputation itself?
It's possible. In fact, my belief is that if you amputated Lee's arm, he dies of blood loss instead of the infection considering that nobody else in the group is a doctor and I doubt a bandage would completely stop the blood loss from losing a limb. This is supported by the fact that Dale survived his bite despite the fact that his amputation took place a while after he was bitten. Also, Lee doesn't have the blackouts if he loses his arm which means he isn't as infected as if he kept his arm. Thus, Lee would be alive if he chopped his arm and get proper medical care to stop blood loss.
Lee should have found a source of fire.
I can see why he died after the katana, that things used for slicing zombies, she probably put walker muck in his system, same with the axe. don't use weapons for amputating is the moral of the story.
I'm not sure... There are several scenes in the comics showing that people cannot die by exchanging body fluids with zombies.
Personally I think it's just the bite. Like from a lizard or a snake. It poisons you and causes some kind of lethal fever.
Amputation needs to be done very quickly, once someone is bitten, the infection enters the bloodstream immediately and the clock starts ticking, we know that zombie pathogen does not kill the victim, it's the numerous bacteria that transfers from the zombie's mouth that usually causes it. Most of these bacteria are highly lethal and resistant to common antibiotics. Besides you never guarantee the victim will be able to survive the blood loss, and in Lee's case, sawing off an arm.. That's A LOT of blood. Also the amputation needs to be done with sterile equipment (and in a clean enviroment too if possible), else you risk further infecting the wound. So.. It's a gamble. It's very risky, though the alternative is .. you know. I kept Lee's arm. Sure, I knew it was already too late for amputation and Lee couldn't know that.. But surely he knew the risks of this action (he would at least remember David Parker-- the guy who died of blood loss after his leg was chopped off in Ep2). So at that point, Clem's life was more important to him. The risk of dying (or getting weak) due to blood loss or even further accelerating the infection was a risk he could not take. His life was fortfeit but he could still save Clem. It was the only thing that mattered then (these all according to my choices in the game, ofcourse).
So long as you get to the bite fast enough. That is only the beginning you should always take medical precautions before amputating as well. Ice packs and anesthetics to prevent the body from passing out due to pain can help keep it stable, you will also need to stop the bleeding as fast as possible. Lee only put a bandage on it which did bugger all. You need a strong tie on it and completely stop blood flow to that part of the arm. Then making sure that it doesn't get infected.