Published in EMT. Tags: head facial neck and spine trauma.
Neck injuries may be open or closed. Open injuries to the neck will bleed profusely and easily cause death. Depending upon the patient’s position, airway passages may be obstructed due to significant bleeding to the neck. Medics should always consider the possibility of an underlying spinal injury when bleeding is found to the neck. Neck […]
Published in EMT. Tags: nervous system trauma.
The spinal cord is part of the central nervous system (CNS), which extends caudally and is protected by the bony structures of the vertebral column. It is covered by the three membranes of the CNS, i.e., the dura mater, arachnoid and the innermost pia mater. Unlike the brain, in the spinal cord the grey matter […]
Published in EMT. Tags: head facial neck and spine trauma.
Scalp Injuries Scalp wounds bleed a lot. The scalp contains a myriad of blood vessels. Medics should ensure the scalp and the back of the head have been examined completely. A bleeding wound to the back of the head in the scalp that is undiscovered could result in bleeding that continues to bleed throughout transport. […]
Published in EMT. Tags: head facial neck and spine trauma.
Eye/Orbital There are many ways that vision can be described, measured, or accessed. fundamentally there are two types of vision, central and peripheral. Central vision is what a person used to look at things directly and see details. Peripheral vision in contrast is the rest of the visual field. Areas that are visible, but not […]
Published in EMT. Tags: head facial neck and spine trauma.
Anisocoria is a term derived from two Greek words, “aniso-” meaning unequal, “kore” meaning pupil, and a Latin suffix “ia” meaning abnormal condition. Anisocoria is characterized by a difference in pupil sizes. This phenomenon results due to disturbances in the efferent pathway dynamics. It can be physiological as well as pathological, occurring due to numerous causes, ranging from benign […]
Published in EMT. Tags: head facial neck and spine trauma.
The most anterior region of the head is the face. The human face is a unique aspect of each individual. The face contains many structures that contribute to the display of emotions, feeding, seeing, smelling, and communicating. One of the most distinguishing qualities of the face is that it is used for personal identity from […]
Published in EMT. Tags: head facial neck and spine trauma, neck.
The incidence of overall head injury is 22.1 per 1,000 person-years and the incidence of a complicated course following a head injury was 0.16 per 1,000 person-years Facial fractures occur at a rate of 158 per 100,000 hospital visitations. Neck pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders at a rate of 27 per 1000 […]
Published in EMT. Tags: soft tissue trauma.
The Scene Size Up Determining the mechanism of injury early on will lead the medics to consider the possibility that the patient will need transport to a burn center. Even as the medics are enroute to the call, they could make arrangements to transport the patient to the correct facility. If there is no burn […]
Published in EMT. Tags: soft tissue trauma.
Occlusive dressings Occlusive or ‘non permeable dressings are used to seal up a wound. In the case of a pneumothorax, an occlusive dressing is used to prevent air from being sucked into the chest when the patient inhales. Bleeding to the neck should be sealed off with an occlusive dressing to prevent air from being […]
Published in EMT. Tags: soft tissue trauma.
Identifying the mechanism of injury in the scene size up is the first link to understanding the injury. Quite often, the mechanism of injury will not be significant enough to result in a cervical spine fracture but nonetheless results in a soft tissue injury. For instance, a patient could cut their arm in a rollover […]