In my way of thinking there is some space in there between the collapsed lungs (squeezed up by diaphragm) and the mesentery holding the other organs in place, granted the space is smaller than with lungs inflated but there has got to be some room there for an arrow or bullet to penetrate without hitting any vitals!
At the end of the
exhalation phase,
the lungs are still occupying the entire space within the chest cavity, the volume of the chest cavity is just momentarily smaller, but the pressure within it increases.
I understand that, but when the diaphragm is pushed upward or forward(in a deer) squeezing the air out of the lungs , obviously the cavity is smaller, but there has got to be some room between that and the stomach and the liver. I know the timing has to be perfect, but what got me thinking of this many years ago was a shot on a bull a hunter took and my boss put an arrow into a doe, which I ended up tracking for two hours for him as he was color blind. Both the bull and the doe travelled for a few hours before they were found. Chest cavity penetration but lungs and heart intact. The doe completely stopped leaving a blood trail. All of our guides back then were former ski patrollers and current fire fighters, and we were all current or former EMT's so we were always in discussion about such things and everyone knew their anatomy. These are just merely observations, not anything factual , mind you, but interesting still!
