p492 Stop the Bleeding Times
Here you give times to stop bleeding for various skills, but omits Bloodletting? Is it in the 5, 10, or 15 minute group?
If I were to take a stab in the dark,it would be that you can’t stop someone’s bleeding by making them bleed more.
Aaron, I know what you are saying about starting rather than stopping. Superficially it “makes sense”, but I can’t agree with you.
Blood letting has the lowest obstacles of any of the health related skills. Lower than surgery, equal to cheating elves even. I would say that blood letting has the lowest time bracket, 5 minutes. Blood letting is all about removing controlled amounts of blood for theraputic purposes. It is ideal for stopping blood loss.
I think for uncontrolled bloodloss you are looking for Butchery - open a neck artery and hang by the foot. 
I largely agree with you, but I really don’t see Bloodletting as being especially good for patching up major wounds. I see a bloodletter being excellently proficient with stopping individual leaking blood vessels but out of his element when faced with blood loss from widespread tissue and organ damage. That puts Bloodletting on more of a middle track with low initial Obs but quickly-escalating difficulties for the most grievous wounds, like (IIRC; don’t have the book on hand) Herbalism.
Alex says what I implied. Also, unlike other healing skills, bloodletting doesn’t have any historical basis in bleedstopping. That said, I figure you wanted to stop bleeding by bloodletting, and your GM agreed that it ought work, there’s nothing against extrapolating Obs. It’s also possible it’s an omission, but I’m doubting it for above-stated reasons.
Lacking of time steps is certainly an omission. If it is not an omission then the inclusion of Obs in the table is a mistake. The fact that there are a set of Obs for Bloodletting (no need to work it out with the GM) to stop bleeding and that in its description it is listed as a medical skill with applications as laid out in the Anatomy of Injury chapter is unequivocal. There is no mention of exceptions to its application. It is just as valid as the rest of the skills. Infact, based upon the Obs, stopping bleeding is one of the things that it is best for. Otherwise it is only as good as the “junior” medical skills in general treatment.
We ourselves, fropm the modern standpoint, may not regard it to be a valid application to medical issues. I know that I do not go to the barber for relief of humours or purging of impurities. If someone wanted to bleed me, I would regard them as a quack. But I am not living in a medieval setting.
Oops. Weird!
Let’s split the difference and call it 10 min.
Oh, whoops. I didn’t actually check my book. I presumed that neither Obs nor time were there. Consider all of my posts null and void.
I now resolve to check my book before I spout off like a dummy. nodnod
Edit: That said, as a reply to that last one of yours, Justin, bloodletting is a legitimate medical procedure for a number of conditions nowadays. Just not common. That’s the only reason I figured to bring that junk up. Still. I’m lame
Hemochromatosis comes immediately to mind as a condition that requires regular bloodletting.
The only disadvantage to using bloodletting is listed under the skill is a penalty to Health for a few days after any use of the skill, which is just what you want to avoid when you suffer a major wound.
Apologies for the necromancy, but I actually can’t see that disadvantage listed anywhere under the Bloodletting skill description or in the Anatomy of Injury chapter in Gold Edition, and I’ve looked for it multiple times. Surgery has a disadvantage listed in the skill description, but it’s the only medical skill I can see that does.