2- The Well-Being of the Emergency Medical Responder Flashcards
Preventing disease transmission:
1) How infections occur
2) How diseases spread from one person to another
3) What you can do to protect yourself and others
How infection occurs:
1) Pathogen gets into the body
2) Sometimes overpower body’s natural defense systems and cause illness
What causes most infectious diseases?
Bacteria and viruses
Commonly used antibiotics:
penicillin, erythromycin and tetracycline
Viruses cause:
Hepatitis, measles, mumps, chicken pox, meningitis, rubella, influenza, wartz, colds, herpes, HIV, genital warts, smallpox, Avian flu
Bacteria cause:
Tetanus, meningitis, scarlet fever, strep throat, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, toxic shock syndrome, Legionnaires’ disease, diptheria, food poisoning, Lyme disease, anthrax
Rickettsia cause:
Typhus, Rocky Mountain spotted fever
Parasitic Worms cause:
Abdominal pain, anemia, lymphatic vessel blockage, lowered antibody response, respiratory and circulatory complications
Prions cause:
Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease)
Yeasts
Candidaisis (aka “thrush”)
The Body’s Natural Defenses:
1) Intact skin & mucous membranes (keep germs out)
2) Immune system (antibodies and white blood cells)
Mild to serious and brief =
Long lasting=
acute
chronic
Signals that the body is fighting infection
Fever, exhaustion
headache, nausea and vomiting
CRITICAL FACT
Intact skin, as well as mucous membranes in the mouth, nose and eyes, are part of the body’s natural defenses to help keep germs out.
Three different types of human immunity:
1) Inate (born with, natural barriers like skin)
2) Adaptive immunity (develops throughout our lives as we are exposed to diseases or are immunized against them)
3) Passive immunity (gained from external sources such as from a mother’s breast milk to an infant)
How diseases spread:
Exposure to blood or body fluids through injuries from needles and other sharps devises, as well as by direct and indirect contact with skin and mucous membranes.
Four conditions must be met for any disease to spread:
1) Present
2) Quantity
3) Susceptible
4) Entry site
CRITICAL FACT
For any disease to spread, pathogens must be present in sufficient quantity and pass through the broken skin or mucous membrane of a susceptible person.
Direct contact:
Occurs when infected blood or body fluid from one person enters another person’s body at a correct entry site.
Indirect contact:
Can occur when a person touches an object that contains the blood or other body fluid of an infected person; e.g. = soiled dressings or equipment
Droplet transmission
Occurs when a person inhales droplets propelled from an infected person’s cough or sneeze from a few feet and also by touching a surface recently contaminated by infected droplets then touching an entry site
Vector-borne transmission
Occurs when an infectious source, such as an animal or insect bite or sting, penetrates the body’s skin.
CRITICAL FACT
Exposure control plans, as required by OSHA, contain policies and procedures that help employers eliminate, minimize and properly report employee exposure incidents.
CRITICAL FACT
Standard precautions are safety measures to prevent occupational-risk exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials, It assumes all body fluids may be infective.
Protecting yourself from disease transmission:
1) Keep immunizations current
2) Have regular physical checkups
3) Be knowledgeable about other pathogens
BSI precautions:
1) PPE
2) Good hand hygiene
3) Engineering controls
4) Work practice controls
5) Proper equipment cleaning
6) Spill cleanup procedures
Wear disposable gloves for all patient contact when providing care to injured or ill people.
What is the most effective measure to prevent the spread of infection?
Hand washing
Engineering controls
Objects used in the workplace to help reduce the risk of an exposure incident.
Examples of engineering controls:
1) sharps disposal containers
2) Self-sheathing needles
3) Safer medical devices
4) Use of biohazard containers & labels
5) Posting of signs at entrances to areas where infectious materials may be present
6) PPE
CRITICAL FACT
Engineering controls, such as biohazard containers and PPE, are control measures that isolate or remove a hazard from the workplace.
Methods of working that help reduce the risk of an exposure incident:
1) Placing sharps items in puncture-resistant, leak-proof and labeled containers, and having the containers at the point of use
2) Avoiding splashing, spraying and splattering droplets of blood when performing procedures
3) Removal of soiled protective clothing ASAP
4) Cleaning all equipment possibly soiled by body fluids
5) Wash hands immediately after providing care
6) No eating or applying makeup and such and use alcohol-based sanitizers when you can’t wash your hands
CRITICAL FACT
Work practice controls reduce the likelihood of exposure by changing the way tasks, such as disposal of sharps items or soiled clothing, are carried out.
What to do if you are exposed:
1) Clean contaminated area throughly with soap & water.
2) Flush splashes of blood or other potentially infectious materials to the mouth and nose with water.
3) If eyes are involved, irrigate with clean water, saline or sterile irritants for 20 mins.
4) Seek immediate follow-up care as identified in your department exposure control plan
CRITICAL FACT
If you are exposed to blood or other potentially infectious materials, immediately take the appropriate steps, such as cleaning contaminated areas, as part of a proper exposure control plan.
CRITICAL FACT
Per OSHA regulations, employers are required to remove items that might put employees in contact with infectious materials.
CRITICAL FACT
OSHA regulations regarding bloodborne pathogens have placed specific responsibilities on employers as protection of employees. These include creating exposure control plans, scheduling decontamination and cleaning the workplace, training on OSHA regulations and free hepatitis B vaccinations.
CRITICAL FACT
Measures such as listening empathetically, speaking gently and allowing anger or despair to be expressed may help the patient and family cope with the dying process.
What are the five stages of grief:
1) Denial
2) Anger
3) Bargaining
4) Depression
5) Acceptance
The goals of a debriefing:
1) Reduce the impact of the traumatic event
2) Accelerate the normal recovery process from a traumatic event
3) Normalize the stress response for emergency workers in traumatic events
4) Provide education in stress management and coping skills
Defusing:
1) Shorter than debriefing & done on a one-to-one basis
2) Effective in the first few hours after the event & are short
3) Allows immediate, initial venting & may eliminate the need for a formal debriefing
Bloodborne pathogens of primary concern to EMRs:
1) Hepatitis B
2) Hepatitis C
3) HIV
Always dispose of gloves and other PPE in a proper:
biohazard container