#4 - EMS Safety & Wellness

safety and well-being

What is a fundamental aspect of Paramedic performance?

lifting patients, being in and around motor vehicles

When do most physical injuries occur in EMS?

nutrition, physical fitness

What plays a role in long-term survival in EMS?

lower resting HR/BP; increased O2 capacity, muscle mass, metabolism; illness/injury resistance

What are benefits of basic physical fitness?

muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility

What are the core elements of physical fitness?

infectious diseases

What are caused by pathogens spread from person to person?

infectious

What should the blood and bodily fluids of every patient be considered as?

standard precautions

What are precautions designed to reduce the risk of transmission of blood-borne pathogens?

body substance isolation (BSI)

What are precautions designed to reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens from moist body substances?

personal protective equipment (PPE)

What class of items includes protective gloves, masks, protective eyewear, and respirators?

handwashing

What is the most important practice of infection control?

ebola virus disease (EVD)

What novel disease is contracted through broken skin or mucous membranes, blood/bodily fluids, needles/syringes, infected fruit bats/primates, or semen?

standard PPE

What is alone not sufficient to ensure protection from EVD?

PAPRs/N95s, gowns, gloves, boot covers, apron

What PPE is necessary to prevent exposure to EVD?

properly marked biohazard bags

Where should you dispose biohazardous wastes?

properly labeled, puncture-proof container

Where should you discard needles and other sharp objects?

exposure

What is an occurrence of blood or bodily fluids coming in contact with non-intact skin, eyes, mucous membranes or by parenteral contact?

immediately wash exposed area w/ soap and water, get medical evaluation, notify agency, and document circumstances

What should you do if exposed?

Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act

What federal regulation outlines procedures to follow after occupational exposure to an infectious disease?

motor vehicle collisions

What are the greatest hazard for EMS personnel?

moral injury

What occurs when EMS practitioners start to accept lower standards for themselves because they see lower standards all around them?

emotional resiliance

What is the capcity to recover quickly from psychological and emotional trauma without developing long-term disability from it?

denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance

What are the Kübler-Ross stages of grief?

passage of dates and anniversaries

What is key to the process of mourning?

stress

What is a nonspecific response of the body to any demand?

stressore

What is a stimulus that causes stress?

distress

What is stress that causes a negative effect?

eustress

What is stress that causes a positive effect?

alarm

What stage of the stress response involves the fight-or-flight phenomenon?

resistance

What stage of the stress response involves the individual beginning to cope with the stress?

exhaustion

What stange of the stress response involves prolonged exposure to the same stressors leading to an exhaustion of the individual's ability to resist and adapt?

circadian rhythms

What are the biological cycles that occur in 24-hour intervals?

burnout

What is the extreme endpoint of stress, particularly prolonged exhaustion?

post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

What is an anxiety disorder that develops following exposure to traumatic events?

employee assistance programs

What is a voluntary work-based program that offers free and confidential assessments, short-term couseling, referrals, and follow-up services?

peer support

What is when EMS practitioners provide emotional and other types of assistance to others in EMS?