It happens rarely, but an uncontrolled or uncontrollable nosebleed has the potential to be fatal. What follows is excerpted from: http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/9339/10416.html The inside of the nose is covered with moist, delicate skin that has a rich supply of blood vessels. When the nasal skin is injured, even from a minor nick or scratch, these blood vessels tend to bleed rather heavily. For this reason, nosebleeds are very common, especially anterior nosebleeds, which involve the lower front portion of the wall between the nostrils (nasal septum). In most cases, this type of nosebleed is not serious, and it usually can be stopped with some local pressure and some time. Only rarely is a nosebleed life threatening or actually fatal. In these cases, the hemorrhage is usually from a posterior nosebleed, in which the site of bleeding is higher and deeper within the nose and the blood flows primarily down the back of the throat. Also, in most cases of life-threatening nosebleeds, some health problem, such as high blood pressure, a bleeding disorder or use of anticoagulant medication, is working against the clotting process. Almost all uncomplicated anterior nosebleeds respond to simple first-aid measures. Even the rare nosebleed that requires a doctor's care usually can be treated successfully with packing, cauterization or another option. If you cannot stop a nosebleed by using first-aid measures, call your doctor immediately or go to an emergency room.

It nearly happened to me! It is only possible if there are other factors involved, such as a very low platelet count. Most nose bleeds will stop as a result of the platelets causing the blood to clot. If the blood does not have enough platelets in it, then the bleeding will continue, this is why it is important to manually "block" or firmly hold the area that is bleeding. There are many conditions or situations that can cause the platelet levels in the blood to be too low. In my situation, I had Leukaemia and was being given Chemotherapy at the time (which kills dividing cells such as platelets), so the only thing that stopped the bleeding was a transfusion of pure platelets into my blood system, and in about 5 minutes, the blood started to clot and the bleeding stopped (this was after about 3 hours of bleeding!). Other causes could be a variety of blood disorders such as HIV or AIDS, etc. As long as the person has no complications, it would be extremely unlikely for them to bleed to death as a result of a nosebleed.

I thought this as gonna happen to my co-worker today. He was in the bathroom and the sink was red, he should have closed the door, when I came up behind him to ask about a caller I could see it was quite a mess.

A close friend of mine lost her three year old to an uncontrollable nosebleed. He was treated with something at the hospital to raise his platelet count but it did not work and he passed away in the night after soaking several sets of sheets in the hospital. She did her best to advocate on his behalf but was rebuffed by the staff and told that it was normal for the medication to take awhile. I would advise to never mess around with a nosebleed that will not stop after a short time and also to find a way to make dark leafy vegetables attractive to children in order to get them a higher dose of Vitamin K.

if a baby died in bed with it's parents and it's nose was bleeding was there a head trauma?