Riley & TJ's Actions Concerning Him

[Mike.]

He didn't seem to be covered that much.


[click image for full size]

1. To get a tourniquet around his legs they'd only need to lift the debris for a short amount of time, twice - once for each leg if TJ/someone else is quick about it. She can then tighten it in her own time.
2. Use tools people, grab a metal beam from the wreckage use it as a lever for some extra time, maybe slide in some big rocks.
3. If it hurts to much dull the pain with some alien snake venom.
4. Before making the decision to kill him - try everything. Really. ANYTHING is better than that choice. Knock him out with the venom and forcefully pull him out. If he dies, at least they did everything they could. It's not like he would suffer while being unconscious and there was still a chance as opposed to guaranteed death. Even if they're sure 100% that he won't make it drugging him would be the more humane choice compared to suffocation. And he was conscious. Horrible...
5. He told Young he was in pain - while earlier in the episode he said he was completely paralyzed in the injured areas. Inconsistency in the show...

Assuming he lived - being a double amputee is not much of an issue in the SG 'verse considering they can clone him some new legs with Asgard tech.

I didn't like the way this was handled AT ALL.

[Lahela]

5. He told Young he was in pain - while earlier in the episode he said he was completely paralyzed in the injured areas. Inconsistency in the show....

He didn't say he was paralyzed, just that he couldn't feel his legs. That could have been nerve damage or shock. He certainly felt them when they tried lifting the debris, though.

[Mike.]

Riley: I doesn't hurt, I can't feel my legs at all.

Looks paralyzed to me initially, and I thought being in shock just removes the pain (flooding the body with endorphins as a natural defense mechanism to give you better chances of escape if attacked and injured by a predator, for example) - not remove all sensations, including control. Of course, I could be wrong.

[morbosfist]

He didn't seem to be covered that much.

1. To get a tourniquet around his legs they'd only need to lift the debris for a short amount of time, twice - once for each leg if TJ/someone else is quick about it. She can then tighten it in her own time.
2. Use tools people, grab a metal beam from the wreckage use it as a lever for some extra time, maybe slide in some big rocks.
3. If it hurts to much dull the pain with some alien snake venom.
4. Before making the decision to kill him - try everything. Really. ANYTHING is better than that choice. Knock him out with the venom and forcefully pull him out. If he dies, at least they did everything they could. It's not like he would suffer while being unconscious and there was still a chance as opposed to guaranteed death. Even if they're sure 100% that he won't make it drugging him would be the more humane choice compared to suffocation. And he was conscious. Horrible...
5. He told Young he was in pain - while earlier in the episode he said he was completely paralyzed in the injured areas. Inconsistency in the show...

Assuming he lived - being a double amputee is not much of an issue in the SG 'verse considering they can clone him some new legs with Asgard tech.

I didn't like the way this was handled AT ALL.

He's covered enough that you cannot see his legs, at all.

1 and 2. Look at how they lift that debris. They can barely get it off the ground. TJ could barely get her hand under to check his legs. Bracing it wasn't much of an option. Riley would have bled out. A tourniquet at best would have slowed the bleeding, but nearly as much as that console was.
3. Rush woke up in the middle of surgery. It would not last him long. Besides, dulling the pain is the least of his problems. It also assumes TJ even brought any, which she might not have.
4. I'm pretty sure medical professionals don't just try things for the hell of it. You assess the situation and react accordingly. "Let's just yank him out and if he dies, oh well?" Seriously?
5. He was in shock before. Shock wears off.

[Mike.]

Venom: Thanks to the Rush situation they know the appropriate dosage. They restored gate connectivity - that's how Young got to the planet and how they later got back to Destiny. TJ could have gotten some at any time after that.

Seriously: Yes. If he had 99% chances of dying vs. 100% he should have taken the gamble, he had absolutely nothing to lose at that point. He should have asked them to try, before his talk with Young, considering the alternative I'm sure TJ wouldn't have objected. Depending on how well the tourniquets worked an on-site transfusion might have been enough until they got a chance to properly close everything off/amputate. The gate was functional at that point, they could have gotten compatible volunteers from the ship and more skilled medical professionals with the communication stones.

99% vs. 100% .

[jelgate]

What gets my goat is the fact that the writers are perfectly happy to use those CPD's the communication stones to bring in doctors to perform surgery in previous instances but in this one its not even mooted by the characters, no consideration given to the possibility whatsoever.

They lacked the tools to get Riley out. Its not just experence

[Shai Hulud]

They lacked the tools to get Riley out. Its not just experence

So they have the tools to perform open heart surgery on Rush but lack the tools to amputate Rileys legs? Sorry I dont buy that for one second.

[jelgate]

So they have the tools to perform open heart surgery on Rush but lack the tools to amputate Rileys legs? Sorry I dont buy that for one second.

A scapel is a very common surgical instrument in comparassion to a saw to amputate the legs. Never mind I think they would have removed that rubble to amputate. Something that was shown to be too heavy

[Shai Hulud]

A scapel is a very common surgical instrument in comparassion to a saw to amputate the legs. Never mind I think they would have removed that rubble to amputate. Something that was shown to be too heavy

You do not have to saw through the bones to amputate, bone can be broken easily enough, you just have to apply enough force. And FWIW they stopped lifting the rubble because of the pain it was causing Riley, something they could easily have dealt with by giving him the alien venom anesthetic which they could have easily retrieved from Destiny once the gate was clear.

[Shadow_7]

Bear in mind that at the time they had just crashed their ONLY shuttle and the gate was KNOWN to NOT be working.

Four hours for the FTL jump. Would have taken seven hours to dig out the gate, so they used C4. TJ was going to the planet to GET medicinals, so probably didn't bring any / much. Since the mission was to GET supplies, having room for them was primary if they couldn't get the gate working. And even IF they had everything needed, they probably couldn't have saved him. Low on rations, low / out of medicinals, and all of the other factors. Could he have been saved (remained alive) probably. But they're not exactly a 20 minute helicopter ride to the nearest mega facilities with the best doctors. TJ is just a medic, not even a real doctor. And finally no stones to bring one in. I think it's pretty much clear that everyone saw the writing on the wall. Hence the no questions asked when Young said he was dead after less than an hour when TJ was expecting him to last the better part of a day.

[jelgate]

You do not have to saw through the bones to amputate, bone can be broken easily enough, you just have to apply enough force. And FWIW they stopped lifting the rubble because of the pain it was causing Riley, something they could easily have dealt with by giving him the alien venom anesthetic which they could have easily retrieved from Destiny once the gate was clear.

You do if you want a clean cut which is kind of needed for an amputation.

[LoneStar1836]

Whose to say they couldn't have amputated him at the knee, then you only have to cut through the ligaments, tendons, and cartilage.

[jelgate]

Whose to say they couldn't have amputated him at the knee, then you only have to cut through the ligaments, tendons, and cartilage.

um the patella bone?

[LoneStar1836]

Cut around it as that is a floating bone and held in place by a tendon.

[morbosfist]

The argument is moot anyway. Riley isn't trapped at the knee. He's trapped at waist height, well above any easily choppable joints. Moreover, TJ didn't have the supplies on-hand to do such a thing, and by the time Destiny was able to provide assistance, Riley was beyond help.