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Exsanguination is the fatal process of total blood loss.
Slaughter of animals
Exsanguination is used primarily in the meat industry, as a method of slaughter. Before any incision is made, a device called a captive bolt is used. The device is placed against the skull of the animal, and penetrates to cause tissue destruction in the brain. This incapacitates the animal so that the procedure may take place.
While the animal is incapacitated, a knife is fully inserted through the skin just behind the point of the jaw and below the neck bones. From this position the knife is drawn forward severing the jugular vein, carotid artery, and trachea. Properly performed, blood should flow freely with death occurring within a few minutes.
Beyond the initial cost of purchasing a captive bolt, continued usage of the method is very inexpensive. The animal is incapacitated for the duration of the procedure, so it is one of the safest methods for the slaughterer.
Slaughter by exsanguination is mandated by Judaic kashrut and Islamic halal dietary laws. However, the captive bolt is forbidden in both religions.
Cause of human death
Exsanguination is a relatively uncommon and dramatic cause of death in humans. It might be more precise to say that exsanguination is a mode of death rather than a cause, since the fact of exsanguination will have some underlying cause.
Trauma (injury) can cause exsanguination if bleeding is not stymied. It is the most common cause of deaths on the battlefield (though the most common cause of death from battle is infection).
Patients can also develop catastrophic internal haemorrhages, such as from a bleeding peptic ulcer, which can cause exsanguination even without any external bleeding. It is a relatively common cause of unexpected, sudden death in patients who seemed previously well.
Alcoholics can also suffer from exsanguination. Thin-walled dilated veins just below the lower esophageal mucosa called esophageal varices may ulcerate or be torn ("Mallory-Weiss tears") during the violent retching of the alcoholic leading to massive bleeding and sometimes exsanguination.
See also
"Exsanguination"