Trauma Overview and Mechanism of Injury Flashcards
Kinematics
The process of predicting injury patterns that can result from the forces and motions of energy.
Blunt Trauma
An injury produced by the wounding forces of compression and change of speed, both of which can disrupt tissue.
Incident phase
The phase of trauma that refers to the trauma event.
Cavitation
A temporary or permanent opening produced by a force that pushes body tissues laterally away from from the track of a projectile.
Acceleration
An increase in the velocity of a moving object.
Deceleration
A decrease in the velocity of a moving object.
Penetrating trauma
An injury produced by crushing and stretching forces of a penetrating object that results in some form of tissue disruption.
Post incident phase
The phase of trauma where emergency care is delivered to injured patients
Pre-incident phase
The phase of trauma that refers to the prevention of intentional and unintentional trauma deaths.
Trauma center
A specialized hospital distinguished by the immediate availability of specialized personnel, equipment, and services to treat most severe and critical injuries.
The Golden Hour
The first hour after severe injury. In this period, surgical intervention for the trauma patient can enhance survival and reduce complications.
Immediate death
Occurs within seconds or minutes of injury. Lacerations of the brain, brainstem, upper spinal cord, heart, aorta, or other large vessels.
Early death
Occurs within the the first 2 to 3 hours after injury. Result from major head injury, hemopneumothorax, ruptured spleen, lacerated liver, pelvic fracture, or other injuries resulting in significant blood loss.
Late deaths
Occurs days or weeks after the injury. Result from sepsis, infection, or multiple organ failure
Ground transportation
Used if the appropriate facility can be reached within a reasonable time. Reasonable time is defined as definitive care within 60 minutes after the injury.
Aeromedical transportation
Used if the time needed needed to transport a patient by ground to an appropriate facility poses a threat to the patients survival and recovery.
Weather, road, or traffic conditions would seriously delay the patients access to definitive care.
Critical care personnel and equipment are needed to adequately care for the patient during transportation.
Newton’s first law of motion
An object, whether at rest or in motion, remains in that state unless acted upon by an outside force.
Conservation of energy law
Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only change form. (Energy can take mechanical, thermal, electrical, chemical, and nuclear forms.)
Newton’s second law of motion
Force (F) equals mass (M) multiplied by acceleration (a) or deceleration (d):
F=M X a or F = M X d
Kinetic energy
Kinetic energy equals half the mass multiplied by the velocity squared
The paramedic should consider the following when evaluating the trauma patient:
Mechanism of injury
Force of energy applied
Anatomy
Energy
The three impacts in an MVC
First impact the vehicle strikes an object
Second impact the occupant collides with the inside of the car
Third the internal organs collide inside the body
Forward collision
The sum of the speeds of both vehicles is the velocity that produces damage
Rear end collision
The difference between the two speeds is the damaging velocity
