Chapter 24-Trauma Flashcards
define index of suspicion
an awareness and concern for potentially serious underlying and unseen injuries
What is trauma/when does it occur?
It occurs when tissue is exposed to levels of energy higher than what it can withstand
What are the three types of energy that can be associated with injuries?
kinetic, potential, and work
What is work?
Force applied over a certain distance
What is kinetic energy?
Energy possessed by a moving object
______ energy becomes _____ during a motor vehicle crash
Kinetic energy –> work of stopping the vehicle and passengers
What has a larger impact on the damage caused by a moving object? Its mass or speed?
Speed
Define blunt trauma
Trauma that results from an object making contact with the body
What are the two most common causes of blunt trauma?
Motor vehicle crashes and falls
What are the different types of motor vehicle crashes?
Frontal, rear-end, lateral, spin, and rollover
What are the three crashes associated with motor vehicle crashes?
Vehicle with exterior object, passenger with vehicle interior, and organs colliding with rigid body structures such as bones
What are some things associated with the first type of collision that should raise your index of suspicion?
Crushed vehicle exterior, intrusion into the passenger compartment, seats torn from their mounts, and collapsed steering wheel
What are common injuries resulting from the second type of collision?
Head trauma, lower extremity fractures, and broken ribs
What are some examples of injuries resulting from the third type of collision?
Brain colliding with skull, heart colliding with sternum
What are some things to look for with frontal crashes?
Whether passengers were wearing their seat belts, whether the airbag deployed, whether the seat belts caused pelvic or abdominal injuries
What is a common result of rear-end crashes?
Whiplash, causing c-spine damage
What are common injuries associated with lateral crashes?
Lateral whiplash of head, shoulders, thorax, and upper extremities towards side of impact, fractures in lower extremities, pelvis, and ribs, and lateral injuries to chest and abdomen
What is the most serious MOI associated with rollover crashes?
ejection
Instead of identifying all entry and exit wounds associated with penetrating trauma, what should you focus on?
How many penetrations there are and the length of the penetrating object(s)
What’s the problem with frangible bullets?
They’re designed to fragment into many pieces upon impact with the body, which increases the damage
What is cavitation?
When the speed of a bullet causes it to generate pressure waves that have a ripple effect throughout the body and cause damage to tissue far from the trajectory of the bullet
Which is often worse, entry or exit bullet wounds?
Exit, because of cavitation
What is a key piece of information you should obtain regarding penetrating wounds/GSWs?
The type of weapon used
What are your priorities in cases with multi-system trauma?
- Your safety
- Call additional help
- MOI
- c-spine
- ABCs
- shock treatment/bleeding
- Limit on-scene time to 10 min
What features does a Level I trauma center have?
- 24-hour coverage by general surgeons
- Care in specialties
- Cardiac, hand, pediatric, and microvascular surgery
- Prevention, public education, cont. edu.
- Quality assessment
- Research
What features does a Level II trauma center have?
- 24-hour coverage by general surgeons
- Care in specialties
- Prevention, public education, cont. edu.
- Quality assessment
What are features of a Level III trauma center?
- 24-hour coverage by physicians and availability of general surgeons
- Transfer agreements with Levels I & II centers
- Quality assessment
- Prevention, public education, cont. edu.
What are features of a Level IV trauma center?
- Basic emergency department coverage and 24-hour lab coverage
- Agreements for transfers
- Quality assessment
- Prevention, public education, cont. edu.
