CH 24 Environmental Emergencies Flashcards

Flashcards covering prehospital environmental emergencies, including cold-related injuries, heat-related emergencies, bites, stings, lightning strikes, and high-altitude sickness.

Environmental emergencies

Disruptions in the body’s physiology caused by elements in the patient’s surroundings, such as climate, altitude, lightning, insects, or animals.

Behavioral regulation

The patient's conscious effort to change their comfort level by taking action, such as adding or removing layers of clothing or seeking shade.

Physiologic regulation

The body's automatic response to thermoreceptors to change temperature, such as sweating or shivering.

Hypothermia

A condition that occurs when heat loss is greater than heat gain; thermoregulation ability is lost at $95^{\circ}F$ and coma occurs at $79^{\circ}F$.

Hyperthermia

A condition that occurs when heat gain is greater than heat loss; the body cannot cool itself effectively, often due to high air temperature and humidity.

Immersion hypothermia

Heat loss in water that occurs $25$ to $30$ times faster than in air; death can occur in minutes in water as high as $50^{\circ}F$.

Cold shock response

One of the two primary responses to cold water immersion, along with cold incapacitation.

Urban hypothermia

A type of hypothermia subdivided into external (inadequate access to shelter) and internal (inadequate heating of the home).

Myxedema coma

A complication of chronic hypothyroidism where the core temperature can drop as low as $75^{\circ}F$.

Maceration

White, wrinkly, wet skin often observed in nonfreezing cold injuries like immersion foot or trench foot.

Freezing cold injury

A local cold injury where ice crystals form between the cells of the skin, typically affecting the hands, feet, ears, nose, and cheeks.

Passive rewarming

The process of removing a patient from a cold environment and preventing further heat loss.

Active rewarming

A necessary treatment for patients with moderate and severe hypothermia.

Heat cramps

Muscle spasms resulting from electrolyte imbalance, usually affecting large flexor groups first.

Heat exhaustion

A mild state of shock characterized by vasodilation, blood pooling beneath the skin, and salt and water loss.

Heat stroke

A dire emergency where thermoregulation fails and the body is unable to cool itself; high body temperature damages brain cells.

Exercise-Associated Hyponatremia

A severe electrolyte imbalance resulting from consuming large amounts of water during prolonged physical activity, potentially causing cerebral or pulmonary edema.

Pit vipers

Poisonous snakes characterized by large fangs, elliptical pupils, a pit between the eye and mouth, and a large, triangular head.

Black widow spider

A spider with a red hourglass marking on its abdomen; bites can cause severe muscle spasms, a rigid, board-like abdomen, and respiratory distress.

Brown recluse spider

A spider identified by a darker violin-shaped mark on its back; bites usually do not heal and may require surgical repair.

Anaphylactic shock

A severe allergic reaction that can be caused by insect bites or stings, featuring signs such as hives, wheezing, stridor, and difficulty swallowing.

Reverse triage

A triage strategy used specifically for lightning strike patients where those in cardiac or respiratory arrest are treated first.

Side flash strike

One of the four mechanisms of a lightning strike, alongside direct strike, contact strike, and ground current/step voltage strike.

Feathering

A unique skin sign appearing as a branching or fern-like pattern on the skin of a lightning strike victim.

Acute Mountain Sickness ($AMS$)

Altitude illness occurring at $6,600\,feet$ or higher, with symptoms like headache, nausea, and fatigue developing $6$ to $24$ hours after ascent.

High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema ($HAPE$)

A condition affecting the lungs and gas exchange at altitudes usually above $8,000\,feet$, characterized by shortness of breath at rest and crackles or wheezing.

High-Altitude Cerebral Edema ($HACE$)

A collection of fluid in brain tissue occurring most often above $12,000\,feet$, causing increased pressure within the skull, incoordination, and altered mental status.

What are the signs and symptoms of hypothermia?

Signs and symptoms of hypothermia include shivering, confusion, slurred speech, slow heart rate, fatigue, and significant loss of coordination.