C2 - Workforce Safety & Wellness: Key Terms Flashcards
Acute Stress Reaction
Reaction to stress that occurs during a stressful situation.
Airborne Transmission
The spread of an organism in aerosol form, such as droplets or dust.
Blind Panic
A fear reaction in which a person’s judgement seems to disappear entirely; it is particulary dangerous because it may cause mass panic among others.
Bloodborne Pathogens
Pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood and can cause disease in humans; include, but are not limited to, hepatitis B virus, and human immunodeficiency virus.
Burnout
The exhaustion of physical or emotional strength.
Communicable Disease
Any disease that can be spread from person to person or from animal to person.
Conversion Hysteria
A reaction in which a person subconsciously transforms his or her anxiety into a bodily dysfunction; the person may be unable to see or hear or may become partally paralyzed.
Critical Incident
An event that overwhelms the ability to cope with the experience, either at the scene or later.
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM)
A process which utlizes trained counselors who confront responses to critical incidents and help to defuse them, directing emergeny services personnel toward physical and emotional equilbrium.
Cumulative Stress Reaction
Prolonged or excessive stress.
Defense Mechanisms
Psychological ways to relieve stress; they are usually automatic or subconsious; they include denial, regression, proection, and displacement.
Delayed Stress Reaction
Reaction to stress that occurs after a stressful situation.
Denial
An early response to a serious medical emergency, in which the severity of the emergency is diminished or minimized. Denial is the first coping mechanism for people who believe they are going to die.
Direct Contact
Exposure to or transmission of a communicable disease from one person to another by physical contact.
Displacement
A defense mechanism characterized by the redirection of an emotion from one person to another.
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
A counseling program to help with situations that may affect the health and well-being of emergency medical services professionals.
Fight-or-Flight Response
A physiologic response to a profound stressor that helps a person deal with the situation at hand; features increased sympathetic tone and results in dilation of pupils, increased heart rate, dilation of the bronchi, mobilization of gluose, shunting of blood away from the gastrointestinal tract and cerebrum, and increased blood flow to the skeletal muscles.
Indirect Contact
Exposure or transmission of disease from one person to another by contact with a contaminated, inanimate object.
Infection
The invasion of a host or host tissues by organisms such as bacteria, viruses, or parasites, with or without signs or symptoms of disease.
Infection Control
Procedures to reduce transmission of infection among patients and health care personnel.
Infectious Disease
A disease that is cause by the growth and spread of small, harmful organisms within the body, or one that is capable of being transmitted with or without direct contact.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
A delayed stress reaction to a previous incident, often the result of one or more unresolved issues concerning the incident.
Projection
A defense mechanism characterized by blaming un acceptable feelings, motives, or desires on others.
Regression
A defense mechanism characterized by a return to more childlike behavior while under stress.
