Below are the statistical findings of a study into tourniquet use in Baghdad. While this research is still a work in progress it will no doubt have an influence on policy surrounding tourniquet use in this country.
Survival with emergency tourniquet use to stop bleeding in major limb trauma.
Kragh JF Jr, Walters TJ, Baer DG, Fox CJ, Wade CE, Salinas J, Holcomb JB. US Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, TX, USA.
Comment in: * Ann Surg. 2009 Jan;249(1):8-9.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine if emergency tourniquet use saved lives....
The following information has been collected from trauma.org and rearranged to be relevant for the PreHospital Setting.
Chest Injuries
Chest Trauma
Initial Evaluation
Introduction
Hypoxia and hypoventilation are the primary killers of acute trauma patients. Assessment of ventilation is therefore given high priority in the primary survey - as the second 'B' or Breathing stage. It may be obvious that there is a ventilatory problem during assessment of the airway. Similarly, the identification or actual severity of certain conditions may only be determined subsequently, after assessment of the circulation or the use of monitoring or diagnostic adjuncts.
This is an interesting article written by Andree Kuypers regarding the condition known as Anaphylaxis or Anaphylatic Shock. It offers us some sound advice on how to manage a patient we suspect of having an Anaphylactic reaction and has principles that can be applied to the outdoor environment.
Peak Safety has been providing safety solutions to the Outdoor industry for over 25 years. We pride ourselves on creating new and valuable products while ensuring a fun and interesting learning environment on our courses.
Thankyou for visiting our website. For your interest we have attached below a number of articles relating to outdoor emergency medicine.
Have a look around at what we offer and feel free to to
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
with any questions.
The State of Alaska Cold Injuries Guidelines have been developed for use by prehospital, clinic and hospital personnel dealing with cold injuries in Alaska. The guidelines are not absolute rules, governing the treatment of hypothermia, cold water near drowning, frostbite and avalanche burial.
Here are a few things you can do to help someone who is having a seizure of any kind:
When encountering someone having a seizure many people feel ill-equipped in handling this circumstance. They forget that they already have within their possession one essential tool- common sense. The following tips below are simple, common-sense steps to take when responding to a person having a seizure.
Paddling Injuries by Paul E. Plumer, WEMT, NREMT-P Wrists, elbows, and shoulders are particularly susceptible to injury in both whitewater and flatwater boating. When body movement goes beyond the normal range of motion (ROM) permitted by our anatomy, pain and disability are sure to follow. Lucky for us that they do—these governors on excess help us to recover and paddle another day.
Whether the problem derives from a use/use pattern of exercise (repetitive, relatively constant training or recreating) or from a disuse/use pattern (the weekend warrior phenomenon), overuse is usually the culprit. Contributing factors to the likelihood of injury include the individual’s level of musculoskeletal fitness, state of nutritional health, and judgment with respect to his or her own limitations.
Drowning Physiology After the Rescue by Paul Daniels, M. S. Madison, Wisconsin School Community Recreation
In America drowning is the third largest cause of accidental death, involving over 7,000 victims annually. Many of these fatalities could be prevented with proper rescue and follow-up life support procedures. It is important that recreation professionals and other persons responsible for aquatics programs understand the basic physiological threats present during and following drowning situations.
Not all drowning victims literally inhale water into their lungs. The extreme sensitivity of upper airway passages often causes a laryngeal spasm, sealing off and preventing water from entering the lungs. These spasms lead to dry drowning. Victims of dry drowning often respond to artificial ventilation without further complications if the symptoms are identified and reached soon enough, generally within one to two minutes of submersion.
Wet drowning occurs when water is inhaled past the larynx into the lungs, severely complicating rescue and life support procedures. This situation has been reported to occur in 90% of all drownings, although results of related research vary to a great degree.
The Peak safety team were onsight at the 'Western Heights Invitational Tournament' in Rotorua on the weekend.
The intensity of the competition had one of our Medics eagerly waiting on the rugby side line, for a chance to don some sprigs & join in. Fortunatly for us all that didn't happen. These guys play hard and the injuries proved it.
Our on sight medics dealt with several suspected spinal injuries, a ruptured knee, a broken nose, head injuries as well as sprains and strains. Most injuries were able to be assessed and treated onsight.
A busy day for our team, but great to see our future sporting heroes in action.
Your blood. You hardly ever see it. Yet, it is the very thing that keeps you going. Check how many of the following facts you knew. Think about them next time you cut a finger or need a blood transfusion.
* The average adult man has about five to six litres of blood in his body, while the average woman has about four. * Your blood makes up about 7% of your total body weight. * About 95% of the body’s blood cells are made in bone marrow. * There are approximately 1 billion red blood cells in two to three drops of blood. * There are three types of blood cells: Red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, all of which float around in plasma. The blood that you donate can be separated into these constituent parts. * Your body usually replaces the volume of the blood you donate within 24 hours. Restoring red blood cell levels to normal can take up to two months though. * Whole blood has a shelf-life of 35 days. Red blood cells last 42 days, platelets only five days and plasma up to one year. * The most common blood type is O positive, while AB negative is the rarest. People with AB blood can receive any kind of blood from a donor, while O negative blood can be given to anyone. * Scientists recently managed to change type A and B blood into type O. If this process can one day be done on a large scale, it would go a long way to alleviating the persistent shortage of blood. * If you are healthy, you will be eligible to donate blood up to 330 times in your life.
Sources:
* American Red Cross http://chapters.redcross.org/br/northernohio/INFO/facts.html * BloodCentres.org http://www.bloodcentres.org/aboutblood/bloodfacts.htm * Western Province Blood Donation Service http://www.blood.org.za/donorgeneral.html
The Peak Safety team have just been in Auckland running our 2 day Phec refresher at the Akarana yacht club. Student were put through their paces both in the class room and out facing scenarios amongst boats and yachts. Onlookers could have been forgiven for thinking that someones weekend outing had gone terribly wrong, as students got totally involved with the problem solving and care of their patients.
THere is a lot of information in the 5 day pre hospital emergency care course and the refresher is a real reminder of how much you learn on that course and what you may have forgotten.
For those of you that missed this course we have other dates scheduled throughout the year. The next being down at Mount Ruapehu in May. Please see upcoming courses for more details. It would be great to see you there.
Peak Safety offer a complete event safety management service and were recently involved with the auditing of the safety plan for the Taupo Iron Man.
While most of this work is carried out prior to the event, the team were onsight throughout the race day, to ensure that the safety standards were being met. Being onsight on the race day enabled us to give organisers a 'heads up' if any changes or improvements should be made.
It was also an opportunity to watch some amazing athletes in action. There were some inspirational stories that came out of the day and we look forward to the next one.
