Emergency Care: Basic Life Support and Trauma

Posted on Feb 11, 2025 in Biology

Basic Life Support

Basic Life Support: The set of measures that are intended to prevent cardiopulmonary arrest in emergency situations, if this has not occurred, or the maintenance of life or basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if it occurs.

Sequence in Basic CPR

  • Ensure safety for the victim and the people that are attending.
  • Assess the seriousness of the emergency situation.
  • Assess the level of consciousness.
  • Check for the existence of adequate ventilation.
  • Assess blood circulation.

Hemorrhage

Hemorrhage: Defined as the output of blood from the bloodstream by a ruptured blood vessel. This break may be due to wounds, bruises, circulatory problems, etc.

Classification

A) According to blood type:

  • Arterial: The wound is deeper, leaving very bright red blood with the pulse and synchronized hard. It is rhythmic with the movement of systole. It comes from muscles and contains O2. Gushes out and has a bright red color.
  • Venous: Blood is darker, more purple, and comes out slowly and continuously.
  • Capillary: The smallest output of the three. Rupture of tiny vessels that irrigate skin and muscle.

B) According to the site where blood is extravasated:

  • External: Hemorrhage is visible where the blood goes to the outside.
  • Internal, externalized through a natural orifice: Those which go to natural orifices: otorrhagia (by ear), epistaxis (nasal passages), hemoptysis (from the lungs and out the mouth when coughing), hematemesis (vomits blood, comes from the stomach), oral bleeding (gums), melena (in the feces, anus), rectal (anus, but not the stool), metrorrhagia (vagina), hematuria (in urine).
  • Internal, not externalized: It is in a closed cavity within the body.
  • Interstitial: Cause bruises and ecchymoses.

Features, Symptoms, and Signs

  1. Blood output: Benign (up to 0.5 L), severe (1L to 1.5L), very severe (1.5 to 3L), death (over 3L).
  2. Cutaneous and mucosal pallor, cutaneous vasoconstriction by capillary defense (vasoconstriction: the closure of the capillaries to maintain blood volume in the system).
  3. Coldness of the whole body, cold sweat.
  4. Dyspnea (impaired breathing) and tachycardia (increased heart rate) due to loss of red cells and the resulting lack of oxygen in the cells.
  5. Hypotension: Lowering of tension due to the loss of blood volume (provable hypovolemic shock).
  6. Decreased level of consciousness, fainting, unconsciousness, or shock: They can give none, or several, due to lack of O2 in the nerve cells.

First Aid in Hemorrhagic Cases

A) External bleeding:

  1. Large artery: Supine, placing the injured area higher than the rest of the body, compressing the injured artery.
  2. Elective compression distance is compressed only at a point.

Contusions

Contusions: These are injuries resulting from collisions between a person and hard objects. They are blunt trauma where there is no break in the skin. There is often blood on the inside. If too strong, it can produce wounds, lacerations, and injuries may be under the skin that is not broken.

Involvement of Different Tissues

  • Skin
  • Subcutaneous tissue or fatty tissue
  • Muscle tissue: A small contusion can break down the muscle myofibrils.
  • Bones: Splinter or break.
  • Tendons and ligaments: Formed by collagen.
  • Nerves: Do not regenerate after a crush.

Symptoms According to the Degree of Impact

  • First Degree: Mild to moderate intensity impact affecting the subcutaneous tissue, skin, and blood vessels. Pain and bruising or cardinal.
  • Second Degree: The impact of higher intensity, affecting most of the subcutaneous tissues and muscle. Pain, swelling, bruising, or “chichon”: It is a mass of blood in a bag surrounded by a membrane. Larger vessels break than in the cardinal. Liquid output, local warmth.
  • Third Degree: The intensity is very large and usually involves opening the skin. Transfer the wounded to the medical center. Severe pain, cell necrosis, crushing and death of cells, bone breakage.

Never: Apply heat, puncture or click on the cardinal or the bruise, apply massage.

  • First Degree:
    • Remove clothing or apparel that obstructs or presses.
    • Rest the damaged part.
    • Apply cold, no local ice, dry cold every 5-10 min with rest intervals, for 48h.
    • Administer anti-inflammatory analgesics (local).

  • Second Degree:

    • Perform the same as above.
    • Do a little compression.
    • Take to a medical center.

  • Third Degree:

    • Take to an urgent medical center.