I've been running an AS&SH rules megadungeon-centered sandbox for over a year and a half now. A question came up last session: when a hired mercenary goes below 0 HP, are they dead, or do the death and dying rules for characters (page 261 in the hardcover rules) apply?

If a "character" (PC?) was  "reduced to a range of from −1 to −3 hp, the character is seriously injured...At a total of from −4 to −9 hp, he is in critical condition... If reduced to −10 hp, he is dead." So do these rules apply to combatants that aren't PCs, such as mercenaries hired by the party, or are these other combatants simply dead at 0 HP, not being PCs? Thanks for any help / insights you can give me.