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West Coast EMT Block 4 Study Guide
1.Know what cavitation is: Results from rapid changes in tissue and
fluid pres- sure that occur with the passage of the projectile, can result in serious injury to internal organs distant to the actual path of the bullet.
2.Know Newton's First Law of Motion: The first law states that objects at
rest tend to stay at rest and objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.
3.Kinetic Energy: The energy of a moving object.
Reflects the relationship between the mass (weight) of the object and the velocity (speed) at which it is traveling.
4.Potential Energy: The product of mass (weight), force of gravity, and
height and is mostly associated with the energy of falling objects. 1 / 4
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The energy stored within an object.
5.Know the 3 collisions that occur in a car accident.First Collision:: The collision of the car against another car, a tree, or other objects.Does not directly affect patient care except making extrication difficult The damage to the car can indicate how severe the patient's injury is and help determine the mechanism of injury.
6.Know the 3 collisions that occur in a car accident.Second Collision:: The collision of the passenger against the interior of the car.This damage is caused by the kinetic energy produced by the passenger's mass and velocity is converted into the work of stopping the passenger's body.It can cause severe traumatic injury that can be apparent during the scene size up or primary assessment. 2 / 4
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The most dramatic injury occurs when the passenger is not restrained.
7.Know the 3 collisions that occur in a car accident.Third Collision:: The collision of the passenger's internal organs against the solid structures of the body.These injuries may not be as obvious as external injuries but they are often the 3 / 4
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most life-threatening.When the car hits an object, the internal organs also hit the inside structure of the body which can result in compression or stretching (tearing).
8.What to assume with the death of an occupant in the same vehicle as
another person?: Suspect that the other person has sustained serious
injuries even if the injuries are not obvious.Treat life-threatening injuries and provide rapid transport to a trauma center.These passengers have likely experienced the same amount of force that caused the death of the other.
9.What is the purpose of airbags? What happens if airbags don't deploy +
what should you do?: Air bags gently cushions the occupant as the
body slows and decelerates to decrease the severity of the impact of the second and third collision.
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