ch 35 Environmental Emergencies Lecture Flashcards

This set covers vocabulary and key concepts related to environmental emergencies including heat, cold, water, altitude, and bites or stings.

Conduction

The loss of body heat through direct physical touch with nearby objects, also known as water chill when involving water.

Convection

The process where air or water currents carry away heat from the body, often referred to as wind chill.

Radiation

The loss of body heat to the atmosphere or nearby objects without physical contact, where heat is "picked up" by surrounding air or water.

Evaporation

The loss of body heat that occurs when the body perspires or skin becomes wet and the liquid turns to vapor.

Respiration

The loss of body heat through the exhalation of warm air and inhalation of cold air.

Generalized Hypothermia

A condition where exposure to cold reduces body heat to the point where the body is unable to maintain its proper core temperature.

Passive Rewarming

The process of allowing the body to rewarm itself by covering the patient and removing wet clothing.

Active Rewarming

The application of an external heat source to a patient to increase body temperature.

Frostnip

An early or superficial local cold injury that involves removing the patient from the cold and covering the affected area.

Frostbite

A late or deep local cold injury where tissues freeze and may form ice crystals.

Active Rapid Rewarming

An emergency technique involving the immersion of a frozen part in water heated to between $100^{\circ}\text{F}$ and $105^{\circ}\text{F}$.

Hyperthermia

A condition resulting from heat that is not needed for temperature maintenance and is not lost, creating an elevated body temperature.

Heat Exhaustion

A heat emergency characterized by moist, pale, and normal-to-cool skin, often caused by fluid and salt loss due to sweating.

Heat Cramps

Painful muscle spasms brought on by the loss of salts during heavy perspiration.

Heat Stroke

A life-threatening heat emergency where temperature-regulating mechanisms fail and the skin becomes hot and either dry or moist.

Drowning

The process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion or immersion in liquid, as defined by the World Health Organization.

Arterial Gas Embolism

A scuba-diving accident involving gas bubbles in the bloodstream, often caused by a diver holding their breath during ascent.

Decompression Sickness

Also known as "the bends," this occurs when a diver surfaces too quickly from a deep, prolonged dive, causing symptoms typically within $1$ to $48$ hours.

Reach, Throw and Tow, Row, Go

The four-step sequence of water rescue techniques, with swimming to the patient ("Go") being the last resort.

Acute Mountain Sickness

A condition experienced by people at high altitudes who have difficulty adjusting to thinner air.

High-Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE)

A severe form of acute mountain sickness involving brain swelling, characterized by worsening headaches, loss of coordination, and altered mental status.

High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE)

A high-altitude illness characterized by shortness of breath, coughing up blood, tachycardia, and a mild fever up to $100.4^{\circ}\text{F}$.

Pressure Immobilization Bandage

A technique used in snakebite care that may be the most effective way to slow the spread of venom.