And there is a second one, which almost nobody outside of the field knows about, and which I did not know about and which turned out to be the piece that decided everything.

A repeat skeletal survey is performed approximately two weeks later.

The reason is that certain fractures — rib fractures in particular, and especially posterior rib fractures — are extremely difficult to see when they are fresh.

They become visible later, when the bone starts to heal and lays down new tissue around the break.

A survey that is clean on day one is not a clean survey.

It is a survey that has not finished yet.