Ch.25 Trauma Overview Flashcards
Arterial air embolism
Air bubbles in the arterial blood vessels.
Blunt trauma
An impact on the body by objects that cause injury without penetrating soft tissues or internal organs and cavities.
Cavitation
A phenomenon in which speed causes a bullet to generate pressure waves, which cause damage distant from the bullet’s path.
Coup-countrecoup brain injury
A brain injury that occurs when force is applied to the head and entergy transmission through brain tissue causes injury on the opposite side of original impact.
Deceleration
The slowing of an object
Drag
Resistance that slows a projectile, such as air.
Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score
An evaluation tool used to determine level of consciousness, which evaluates and assigns point values (scores) for eye opening, verbal response, and motor response, which are then totaled; effective in helping predict patient outcomes.
Index of suspicion
Awareness that unseen life-threatening injuries may exist when determining the mechanism of injury.
Kinetic energy
The energy of a moving object
Mechanism of injury (MOI)
The forces, or energy tranmission, applied to the body that cause injury.
Medical emergencies
Emergencies that require EMS attention because of illness or conditions not caused by an outside force.
Multisystem trauma
Trauma that affects more than one body system.
Penetrating trauma
Injury caused by objects, such as knives and bullets, that pierce the surface of the body and damage internal tissues and organs.
Potential energy
The product of mass, gravity, and height, which is converted to kinetic egergy and results in injury, such as from a fall.
Projectile
Any object propelled by force, such as a bullet by a weapon.