Anesthesia Key

ABDOMINAL PAIN The causes of abdominal pain are myriad, but may be categorized by classical symptom complexes. As with most disorders, there are serious causes and minor disturbances. The purpose…

MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES OVERUSE SYNDROMES Whenever a muscle is overused—that is, exercised past its state of conditioning—there is actual destruction of the muscle tissue and generation of lactic acid. Given a…

SNAKEBITE POISONOUS SNAKES Two types of poisonous snakes are indigenous to the United States: pit vipers (rattlesnake, cottonmouth [water moccasin], copperhead) and coral snakes. Their distributions are as follows: Northeast….

INJURIES AND ILLNESSES DUE TO COLD HYPOTHERMIA (LOWERED BODY TEMPERATURE) The body generates heat through metabolic processes that can be maximized with involuntary shivering to roughly 5 times the basal…

UNDERWATER DIVING ACCIDENTS AND DROWNING On land at sea level, the human body is constantly exposed to 14.7 lb (6.7 kg, or 1 atmosphere) of pressure from the weight of…

GROUND-TO-AIR DISTRESS SIGNALS If a party is trapped or lost, and helicopter or airplane search parties are likely to be in the region, it may help to attempt to signal…

EMERGENCY CHILDBIRTH When a woman is ready to give birth, the contractions of labor are usually intense and uninterrupted, or separated by intervals of less than 3 to 5 minutes….

LIGHTNING STRIKE Lightning strikes the earth at least 100 times per second during an estimated 3,000 thunderstorms per day. Fortunately, the odds of being struck by lightning are not very…

INJURIES AND ILLNESSES DUE TO HEAT BURN INJURIES See page 108. HEAT ILLNESS (HYPERTHERMIA) The human core temperature is maintained at 98.6°F (37°C), with little variation from individual to individual….