Lightning, Altitude, Flash Floods, And Drowning Flashcards
What are some things you can do to protect yourself if you’re caught outside in a
lightning storm?
Get inside a building or vehicle; avoid open fields, top of hill or ridge top; stay near a shorter clump of trees; if in a group spread out, add distance between people; if camping in an open area, set up camp in a valley, ravine, or other low areas; stay away from water, wet items and metal objects
Why should you spread out far away from other people in lightning?
to avoid side splash - transfer of electrical current from other objects or from person to person
How do you treat lightning injuries?
Who should you treat first if there are multiple people injured?
treatment: put ut any burning clothing, remove hot jewelry, and cool burned area with water; assess and manage the airway, perform CPR if not breathing; dress any wounds and burns; immobilize any fractures; assess for a spinal injury and immobilize if spinal injury suspected
Reverse triage - prioritize patients with no pulse or not breathing
What are some typical immediate effects of lightning strikes?
heart asystole; respiratory arrest; broken bones and muscle pains; seizures; confusion; Lichtenberg ferning (the scar left on the skin from a lightning strike)
Why are flash floods so deadly?
sudden onset leaving little time to prepare of evacuate; a storm occurring as far as 30 miles away can quickly lead to a flash flood in a desert area
What should you do if a flash flood is nearby?
immediately climb to higher ground
What is the biggest factor that leads to altitude illness?
Rate of ascent
How do you recognize and treat acute mountain sickness?
recognize: headache and at least one
dizziness, lightheadedness, fatigue, weakness, nausea, vomiting, anorexia, insomnia
treat: stop ascending until symptoms resolve and descend if no improvement
What is the primary clue that someone may have developed High Altitude Cerebral
Edema (HACE)?
Symptoms of severe AMS plus neurological dysfunction (altered level of consciousness and/or ataxia)
What are some signs of High Altitude Pulmonary Edema?
What should you do about it?
AMS plus two of the following
shortness of breath; cough; weakness or decreased exercise performance; chest tightness or congestion; crackles or wheezing; tachypnea; tachycardia
Descend; give supplemental oxygen
How can you prevent altitude illness?
gradual ascent - at altitude >8200 ft sleeping altitude should not increase >2000ft in 24 hours; add one day for acclimatization for every increase in 2000 to 4000 feet
Medication - take 125mg Acetaolamide 2x per day, 24 hours before ascent and for the first 2 days or Dexamethasone for unplanned emergency ascent (does have serious side effects - depression, glucose intolerance) or ginko extract (this has highly variable results)
Why is drowning silent?
a small amount of water will enter the trachea, which causes muscle spasms that seal off the airway (the same effect as choking) and you can’t get any noise vibrations to make sound
- Why should you try to approach a drowning victim from behind?
because they will try to climb you or claw their way to the surface
Once you have a drowning victim back on land, what’s the first thing you should do?
rescue breathes
