Blood Shedding Process

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Bloodstains deposited at a crime scene are subject to various forms of change from their original appearance at the time the blood shedding event occurred. It’s important to know the recognition of the alterations and to understand the significance when it’s time for the reconstruction event. When blood exits the body, the processes of drying and clotting happens immediately after impact. The drying time of the blood is a function of its volume, the nature of the target surface texture, and the environment conditions. Small pattern and light transfers of blood will dry within a few minutes under normal conditions of temperature, humidity, and air currents. Larger volumes of blood may take longer to dry. Drying accelerated by increased temperature,…show more content…
This can be interpreted as movement or activity by the victim or assailant when or after were inflicted. As a dried bloodstain age, they tend to progress through a series of color changes from red to reddish brown and then to black. The estimation of the age of bloodstain based on color is difficult because environmental conditions and the presence of bacteria can affect the sequence and duration of color changes. Any estimate of time lapse should involve experiments utilizing freshly drawn human blood of similar volume placed onto a similar surface with environmental conditions duplicated as closely as possible. The clotting process is also initiated when blood exits the body and is exposed to a foreign surface. The appearance and extent of clotted blood at a scene may provide an indication of the amount of time elapsed since the injury occurred. Normal clothing time of blood that has exited the body ranges from 3 to 15 minutes in healthy individuals. As a clot progressively forms a jelly like Mass., it retracts and forces the serum out of and away from the progressively stabilizing

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