I find your books vastly entertaining, and meticulously researched. Having spent almost 40 years in the Medical Service of the South African Defence Force, I hazard the following:
Chest wounds do not cough up blood, they bleed into the chest cavity.
Abdominal wounds do not vomit blood, they bleed into the Abdominal cavity.
A major head wound that bleeds maximally, will usually be immediately fatal, and the ciculation will stop, as well as the bleeding.A major neck wound involving the Carotid Artery and jugular vein, can only deliver very roughly about 500ml of blood per minute- in neither case can a helmet fill up with blood and overflow almost immediately.But yes, poetic licence …
History will probably rank Uhtred and Sharpe along with Hornblower, and deservedly so.Keep the stories and the blood flowing!
Best regards,
Tony Dippenaar.