Environmental Emergencies Flashcards
(103 cards)
1
Q
What is thermolysis?
A
heat loss
2
Q
What is radiation?
A
loss of heat directly into a colder environment
3
Q
What is convection?
A
transfer of heat through circulating air
4
Q
What is conduction?
A
transfer of heat from body to colder object
5
Q
What is evaporation?
A
cooling of body through sweating
6
Q
What is respiration?
A
body heat loss during breathing
7
Q
What is hypothermia?
A
heat loss exceeds heat gain
8
Q
What is the body core temperature of someone who is hypothermic?
A
low
9
Q
What is hyperthermia?
A
heat gained exceeds heat loss
10
Q
What is the body core temperature of someone who is hyperthermic?
A
high
11
Q
What is frost nip?
A
freezing of the skin (superficial dermis) but not deeper surface
12
Q
What is a frost bite?
A
freezing of a body part
13
Q
What is trench foot (immersion)?
A
results from prolonged exposure to cold water
14
Q
What begins to develop over a frostbite injury after 5 days of onset?
A
necrotic skin
15
Q
What are the 5 things that you must do for a person who has a local cold injury?
A
remove from cold environment | handle injured part gently | give warm/humidified O2 | remove any wet/restricting clothing
16
Q
When can we rewarm a patient?
A
patient is conscious and responding appropriately
17
Q
What temperature range is considered to be mild hypothermia?
A
96-93 F
18
Q
What temperature range is considered to be moderate hypothermia? What will begin to develop in moderate hypothermic patients?
A
93-86 F | changes in LOC
19
Q
What temperature range is considered to be severe hypothermia? What will begin to develop in severe hypothermic patients?
A
below 86F | systemic issues
20
Q
What are significant signs and symptoms of someone who is hypothermic?
A
cold skin | bradycardic | bradypnea | weak pulse | hypotensive | MAY appear dead
21
Q
What is a sign/symptom that occurs in moderate-severe hypothermic patients?
A
joint/muscle stiffness
22
Q
What skin signs will you see on a hypothermic patient?
A
red, pale or bluish skin
23
Q
How do we rewarm conscious hypothermic patients?
A
with ambulance heater on 86 F and occasionally hot packs
24
Q
How can we rewarm unconscious patients?
A
passively via ambulance heater on 86F
25
For an unconscious hypothermic patients, what must we do before staring CPR if they do NOT have a palpable pulse? Why?
check pulse for 30-45 seconds as they are extremely bradycardic
26
What are the 3 types of heat emergencies?
heat cramps | heat stroke | heat exhaustion
27
What are heat cramps?
muscle spasms of legs and abdomen
28
What are heat cramps due to?
inadequate salt intake
29
Signs and symptoms of heat cramps?
muscle spasms/cramping
30
What are the 4 things you must do to treat heat cramps?
remove patient from hot environment | rest cramping muscle | replace fluids orally (electrolyte beverage) | transport if needed
31
What causes heat exhaustion?
exercising in hot environment or at rest in a hot environment and or exposed to hot, humid, poorly ventilated areas
32
5 Signs and Symptoms of heat exhaustion.
headache | nausea | weakness | dizziness | syncope
33
Skin signs of a person suffering from heat exhaustion.
warm, cool, moist or flushed skin
34
How do you treat someone who is suffering from heat exhaustion? (6 ways)
remove patient from hot environment | O2 prn | loosen tight clothing | position supine | fan/cool patient | transport
35
Signs and Symptoms of a Heat Stroke.
ALOC | seizures | hot, dry, flushed skin (can be moist)
36
What is happening to the body in a patient suffering from a heat stroke?
body lost ability to compensate
37
If a patient is suffering from a heat stroke triggered via exertion, what must you assume?
other factors as environment may not be the primary factor
38
How do you treat someone who is suffering from a heat stroke? (7 ways)
remove patient from heat environment | high-flow O2 | provide air conditioning at high setting and aggressively fan patient | remove patient's clothing | apply cold packs | shock position prn | transport
39
Where do you apply cold or hot packs on a patient? (3 areas)
neck, armpits and groin
40
What is "drowning"?
death as a result of suffocation after submersion in water
41
What is "near-drowning"?
survival, or temporary survival, after suffocation in water
42
What are the 6 steps of the drowning process?
something goes wrong | panic | inefficient breathing | decreased buoyancy | exhaustion | cardiac/respiratory arrest
43
What is an involuntary gasp?
aspiration of water into the hypopharynx
44
What is laryngospasm?
water hits your larynx
45
What is dry drowning?
drowning secondary to airway spasm
46
What is wet drowning?
drowning secondary to aspiration and airway filled with water
47
What is "secondary drowning"?
pulmonary edema secondary to aspiration of water
48
What is shallow water drowning?
loss of stimulus to breathe
49
What is the treatment for near drowning?
use spinal precautions | ABC treatments (O2, suction, CPR) | transport
50
What 4 cases would you suspect a spinal injury in submersion incidents?
submersion due to diving accident/long fall | patient is unconscious | complains of weakness, paralysis, or numbness | your own suspicion
51
What is a descent problem in diving incidents?
due to sudden increase of pressure on the body as person dives
52
What is an ascent problem in diving invcidents?
air embolism and/or decompression sickness
53
What is Air Embolism?
air bubble present in vasculature system that acts like a clot but moves around
54
Signs and Symptoms of an Air Embolism.
RAPID onset | severe muscle/joint pain | dyspnea | chest pain | dysphasia | paralysis/coma | irregular pulse/cardiac arrest
55
What is dysphasia?
difficulty swallowing
56
What is Decompression Sickness? (The Bends)
air bubbles obstruct blood vessels
57
How does decompression sickness pathologically occur?
pressure causes air gases to detach from RBC = released into the blood vessel = air pockets
58
Signs and Symptoms of Decompression Sickness.
abdominal pain | joint pain | SLOW onset | ataxia | dysarthria | vertigo
59
What is ataxia?
impaired coordination
60
What is dysarthria?
slurred speech
61
What is the treatment for diving emergencies?
ABCs and poisitoning, calling ALS
62
What is the positioning for a diving emergency?
left lateral OR supine
63
What are you concerned about with a patient who got struck by lightning?
electrical conduction of their heart
64
How do we remove a stinger from a bee, hornet, or a wasp?
with a dull edge such as a credit card
65
What is anaphylaxis due to?
body's reaction to foreign bodies
66
What is the pathophysiology of anaphylaxis?
histamine is released and causes vasodilation and bronchospasm
67
Signs and Symptoms of anaphylaxis.
LOC | hives (urticaria) | tongue swelling | difficulty swallowing | rapid swelling of throat tissues
68
How does vasodilation trigger swelling of the upper airway structures?
opening blood vessels = empties fluids into tissues = systematic swelling and bronchospasm occur
69
What are the 3 stages of an allergic reaction?
urticaria | respiratory distress | Shock
70
How can we treat an allergy emergency or anaphylaxis emergency?
ABCs | EpiPen | treat for shock
71
What are the 2 types of venomous spiders to commonly bite humans?
brown recluse and black widow
72
Which spider releases neurotoxins?
black widow
73
Which spider releases necrotoxins?
brown recluse
74
What are necrotoxins?
hemolytic, dissolves tissues and blood so spider can quickly suck it out of your body
75
On what parts of the body do snakes commonly bite?
hands and feet
76
What are the 4 common poisonous snakes in the US?
rattlesnakes | copperheads | coral snakes | cottonmouth
77
What snakes are considered pit vipers?
rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and copper heads
78
What are pit vipers?
snakes that release venom via injection from fangs
79
What type of venom do pit vipers inject? How does it affect patient?
necrotoxin | not fatal, can destroy extermities
80
What kind of venom do coral snakes inject? How does it affect patient?
neurotoxin | paralysis of nervous system
81
How to treat snake bites? (4 ways)
splint extremity | demarcate wound and note time | position supine | transport
82
In what position would you splint an upper extremity that has a snake bite?
place at or below the level of the heart
83
What type of venom do scorpions inject?
neurotoxins
84
How would you remove the tick?
using fine tweezers = grasp tick by body = pull it straight out of the skin
85
What is the onset of symptoms for Rocky Mountain Fever?
7-10 days after bite
86
Signs and Symptoms of Rocky Mountain Fever.
N/V | paralysis | HA | weakness | cardiorespiratory collapse
87
What is the onset of symptoms for Lyme Disease?
few days to weeks after bite
88
Significant Signs and Symptoms of Lyme Disease?
joint swelling (knees); can be confused with rheumatoid arthritis
89
How to treat dog and human bites?
immobilize and dress wound
90
Significant Signs and Symptoms of Marine Stings.
painful reddish lesions
91
How to treat marine animal stings? (5 ways)
limit further discharge | inactive nematocysts | remove remaining tentacles | monitor for anaphylaxis | transport
92
How would you limit further discharge of an extremity that has a marine animal sting?
minimize patient movement
93
How would you inactivate nematocysts?
apply rubbing alcohol or immerse the part in warm water
94
How would you remove the remaining tentacles?
scraping them off
95
How would you treat envenomation wounds?
soaking wound in hot water for 20+ mins
96
What are the 4 types of crises seen in individuals with Sickle Cell Anemia?
vaso-occlusive crisis | aplastic crisis | hemolytic crisis | splenic sequestration crisis
97
What is a vaso-occlusive crisis?
blood flow to organs is restricted
98
What is an aplastic crisis?
worsenign of baseline anemia
99
What is a hemolytic crisis?
acute accelerated drop in Hb levels due to change in cell shape
100
What is a splenic sequestration crisis?
acute enlargement of spleen as RBCs are trapped in spleen
101
What is thrombosis?
blood clot in blood vessels
102
What is thrombophilia?
tendency to develop blood clots
103
What is hemophilia?
tendency to bleed = cannot form blood clots
