Chapter 17 Caring for soft tissues and injuries: Summary Flashcards
What should you do if a patient is bleeding from an open wound?
You apply direct pressure, apply a pressure bandage and elevate the site if needed (elevation will help the body keep blood flow focused around its core instead of limbs, allowing for higher chance of survival.
If these don’t work you should consider using a tourniquet (to lock down circulation near the site so that the entire body doesn’t perish). This is like a submarine locking out compartments so that the entire sub doesn’t flood.
Why should you use BSI precautions and PPE (personal protective equipment) like gloves and eye protection?
To prevent yourself from being exposed to infectious diseases while caring for patients who may be bleeding or leaking harmful bodily fluids.
How does arterial bleeding differ from venous bleeding and capillary bleeding?
Arterial bleeding spurts and sprays from a wound because blood is oxygenated and ??????
Venous blood can be more heavy but bleeds at a steady flow.
Capillary bleeding slowly oozes from a wound.
Bruising, swelling, abdominal rigidity or guarding, vomiting blood, bleeding from the rectum or vagina, or the onset of shock after a blunt force trauma, can all indicate INTERNAL BLEEDING…
How should emergency care for victims with internal bleeding be handled?
Emergency care providers should recognize the internal bleeding, activate the EMS system, keep the patient still and comfortable and watch for any signs of throwing up (vomit), while treating for shock (due to blood loss INSIDE the body which may affect perfusion blood circulation).
Name some type of external (outside) SOFT TISSUE injuries…
Abrasions (scrapes), lacerations (cuts), avulsions (skin flap injuries), punctures (penetrations) and amputations (loss of limb) are all external soft-tissue injuries.
How should you handle an impaled object on a patient?
Impaled objects should be stabilized in place using bulky dressings or improvised materials. They should usually never be removed because it may cause an uncontrollable leak of blood to occur…which leads to possible death.
The only exception is if the object is blocking the airway of the patient. It must then be moved because lack of breathing oxygen into the body can lead to death faster than the loss of oxygen through blood loss.
Remember, without breathing…blood wouldn’t have oxygen in the first place and would be of LITTLE USE.
But also note that with a gaping hole, oxygen levels pumped through blood will be lower and lower as blood loss (hemorrhagic shock) occurs until the patient eventually hits cardiac arrest and death.
What is multi system trauma? And what are the signs of its presence?
Multi system traumas is when a person (patient) has suffered a large amount of injury that has damaged (traumatized) multiple parts of the body’s systems like the skin, muscular system, circulatory system, and nerve (nervous) system etc…
Signs and symptoms include external bleeding and internal bleeding, pain in diverse places, altered levels of consciousness and the status of shock setting in FAST (due to compromise of many systems not functioning properly).
How should an amputated patient be treated?
Amputations should be initially cared for with direct pressure or tourniquets to control bleeding. The patient should then be treated for shock (because loss of blood should cause lower levels of oxygen) and transported to hospitals with the amputated part as soon as POSSIBLE.
How should a typical nosebleed be handled?
Punching the nostrils (to allow clotting) and helping the patient lean forward (so that they don’t swallow their own blood causing internal damage to the stomach or possibly the lungs) may help the patient.
Activating the EMS if the bleeding won’t stop or becomes worse is a must.
How should you handle a patient that is afraid to death after an eye injury?
Be careful because eye injuries can be very serious and cause permanent damage or blindness if something goes wrong. Make sure to cover BOTH eyes so that the healthy eyes movement doesn’t force the injured eye to follow (increasing injury).
Try to reassure the patient by speaking to them and touching them.
What are the 3 burn classifications and how are they different?
- Superficial burns are on the top layer of the skin, usually aren’t that serious, and can be red and painful.
- Partial thickness burns are more serious because the burns reach a deeper level of skin (dermis) and cause pain, swelling, and blisters.
- Full thickness burns cause damage down to the bone. They kill nerves and tissues leaving the skin white, rigid, and very little pain (because the nerves have burned out).
Name a couple of burn types and how the burning process should be treated on a victim…
For burns in general should first stop the burning process and remove any affected clothes or jewelry (they may melt onto the skin).
Chemical burns should be flushed thoroughly with large amounts of water (after first brushing off any DRY chemicals failure to do so may cause the water to mix with the chemical and SPREAD)
Electric burns must have the source of electricity shutdown ASAP. Burned areas should then be covered with dry, sterile gauze while waiting for the arrival of EMS personnel. If the burn is really bad try to monitor the patients airway and treat for shock (since oxygen may be low due to burns in possible arteries, organs, etc…)
What is the rule of 9’s (deals with burn victims).
The rule is designed to figure out a rough estimation of how much surface area a patient has had burned.
The head is 9%, an arm is 9% the back of the arm is 9% etc…
What is the difference between bandages and dressings?
Dressings are made of CLEAN or STERILE cloth. They help directly control bleeding and protect wounds from becoming contaminated. Bandages are what are used to HOLD the dressings in place.
