EMT Course Chapter 26 - Bleeding

Bleeding

Venules

Very small, thin-walled blood vessels.

Capillaries

The small blood vessels that connect arterioles and venules; various substances pass through capillary walls, into and out of the interstitial fluid, and then on to the cells.

Ecchymosis

A buildup of blood beneath the skin that produces a characteristic blue or black discoloration as the result of an injury.

Contusion

A bruise from an injury that causes bleeding beneath the skin without breaking the skin; also see ecchymosis.

Aorta

The main artery leaving the left side of the heart and carrying freshly oxygenated blood to the body.

Hematemesis

Vomiting blood.

Hematuria

Blood in the urine.

Veins

The blood vessels that carry blood from the tissues to the heart.

Epistaxis

A nosebleed.

Hemophilia

A hereditary condition in which the patient lacks one or more of the blood’s normal clotting factors.

Shock

A condition in which the circulatory system fails to provide sufficient circulation to maintain normal cellular functions; also called hypoperfusion.

Hypoperfusion

A condition in which the circulatory system fails to provide sufficient circulation to maintain normal cellular function; also called shock.

Junctional tourniquet

A device that provides proximal compression of severe bleeding near the axial or inguinal junction with the torso.

Pelvic binder

A device to splint the bony pelvis to reduce hemorrhage from bone ends, venous disruption, and pain.

Coagulation

The formation of clots to plug openings in injured blood vessels and stop blood flow.

Hypovolemic shock

A condition in which low blood volume, due to massive internal or external bleeding or extensive loss of body water, results in inadequate perfusion.

Perfusion

The flow of blood through body tissues and vessels.

Tourniquet

The bleeding control method used when a wound continues to bleed despite the use of direct pressure; useful if a patient is bleeding severely from a partial or complete amputation.

Hemoptysis

The coughing up of blood.

Hemorrhage

Bleeding.

Hemostatic dressing

A dressing impregnated with a chemical compound that slows or stops bleeding by assisting with clot formation.

Artery

A blood vessel, consisting of three layers of tissue and smooth muscle, that carries blood away from the heart.

Vasoconstriction

Narrowing of a blood vessel.

Arterioles

The smallest branches of arteries leading to the vast network of capillaries.

Hematoma

A mass of blood that has collected within damaged tissue beneath the skin or in a body cavity.

Melena

Black, foul-smelling, tarry stool containing digested blood.

Open-book pelvic fracture

A life-threatening fracture of the pelvis caused by a force that displaces one or both sides of the pelvis laterally and posteriorly.