Chapter 24 Trauma Overview Flashcards
Arterial air embolism
Air bubbles in the arterial blood vessels
Blunt trauma
And 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 causes damage distant from the bullets path
Coup-contrecoup brain injury
A brain injury that occurs when a force is applied to the head and energy 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
And 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 transmission, applied to the body that causes injury
Medical emergencies
Emergencies that require EMS attention because of illness or conditions not caused by an outside force
Multi system 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 into Connecticut energy and results in injury, such as a fall
Projectile
Any object propelled by force, such as a bullet by a weapon