Chapter 2: Emergency Care and Transportation of the Sick and Injured

Acute Stress Reactions

Reaction to stress that occurs during a stressful situation.

Airborne Transmission

The spread of an organism via droplets or dust

Bloodborne pathogens

Pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood and can cause disease in humans. These pathogens include, but are not limited to, hepatitis B virus and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The primary federal agency that conducts and supports public health activities in the United States. It is part of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Communicable Disease

A disease that can be spread from one person or species to another.

Concealment

The use of objects to limit a person's visibility of you.

Contamination

The presence of infectious organisms on or in objects such as dressings, water, food, needles, wounds, or a patient's body; also, the presence of foreign bodies such as dirt, gravel, or metal.

Cover

The tactical use of an impenetrable barrier for protection.

Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM)

A process that confronts the responses to critical incidents and defuses them, directing the emergency services personnel toward physical and emotional equilibrium.

Cumulative Stress Reactions

Prolonged or excessive stress.

Delayed Stress Reactions

Reaction to stress that occurs after a stressful situation.

Designated Officer

The individual in the department who is charged with the responsibility of managing exposures and infection control issues.

Direct Contact

Exposure or transmission of a communicable disease from one person to another by physical contact

Exposure

A situation in which a person has had contact with blood, body fluids, tissues, or airborne particles in a manner that suggests disease transmission may occur.

Foodborne transmission

The contamination of food or water with an organism that can cause disease.

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

The body's response to stress that begins with an alarm response, followed by a stage of reaction and resistance, and then recovery or, if the stress is prolonged, exhaustion.

Hepatitis

Inflammation of the liver, usually caused by a viral infection, that causes fever, loss of appetite, jaundice, fatigue, and altered liver function.

Host

The organism or individual that is attacked by the infecting agent.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which damages the cells in the body's immune system so that the body is unable to fight infection or certain cancers.

Immune

The body's ability to protect itself from acquiring a disease.

Indirect Contact

Exposure or transmission of disease from one person to another by contact with a contaminated object.

Infection

The abnormal invasion of a host or host tissues by organisms such as bacteria, viruses, or parasites, with or without signs or symptoms of disease.

Infection Control

Procedures to reduce transmission of infection among patients and health care personnel.

Infectious Disease

A medical condition caused by the growth and spread of small, harmful organisms within the body.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

The federal regulatory compliance agency that develops, publishes, and enforces guidelines concerning safety in the workplace.

Pathogen

A microorganism that causes disease in a susceptible host.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

A delayed stress reaction to a prior incident. This delayed reaction is often the result of one or more unresolved issues concerning the incident and may relate to an incident that involved physical harm or the threat or physical harm.

Sign

Objective findings that can be seen, heard, felt, smelled, or measured.

Standard Precautions

Protective measures that have traditionally been developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for use in dealing with objects, blood, body fluids, and other potential exposure risks of communicable disease.

Transmission

The way in which an infectious disease is spread: contact, airborne, by vehicles, or by vectors.

Vector- borne Transmission

The use of an animal to spread an organism from one person or place to another.