“When using the inhaler, make sure the patient is spacing it correctly from their mouth; it is not effective to “suck” on the inhaler. The medication needs three to four inches to disperse in the air before being inhaled. The lungs want gas, not liquid, so give the liquid in the inhaler container time to gasify.” This is kinda confusing wording. It sounds like you’re telling people to hold the inhaler away from their mouth and try to breath the medicated air. That would only makes sense if they happen to have a spacer attached between the inhaler and their mouth, but that’s not mentioned here.
One thing to add about appendicitis is it’s extremely similar to constipation or general cramps with one big exception. The pain increases when you press on the area. constipation or general cramps don’t do that. At least that was the symptom that signaled to me what it was. I was in surgery a couple hours later. I’m sure there are other signs associated with an infection but the pain from pressing was the big signal in my case.
That would depend on your definition of “good shape”. Athletic individuals typically have higher red blood cell counts due to their exercise versus sedentary individuals. This increased red blood cell count is precisely the thing that makes athletic people tend to acclimate more quickly to higher elevations. Of course, like all things, it isnt a simple switch more than a shift of the bell curve.
Whats an average timeline for TBI to go from “probably ok staying at home” to “hospital…now”? You said it depends on the severity and symptoms so do you have a time range? does it happen in minutes? hours? a day? all the above?
The “at-rest” reference heart rates and breathing rates are great and very important to know. One thing I notice almost no one mention is what a realistic heart rate and breathing rate look like in a patient that just had something traumatic happen, or is still in that situation. Is there a general guideline of “expect it normal to 20% above normal” or it 100% depends on the patient and could be all over the place or it doesn’t matter because in that case you’re only paying attention to the trend?
Great explanation on the use of a chest seal for penetrating trauma. I think it might benefit the student to also mention that non-penetrating hemo and pneumothorax may also be of concern. While there isnt anything we can do (thoracostomy is outside our expertise unfortunately ha), those conditions would have an impact on the urgency of getting the patient to more definitive care. I’d hate for someone to think “no hole, no problem” regarding the lungs. Also, I was taught that there are two additional symptoms to look out for when identifying a collapsed lung, paradoxical chest movements (albeit not as dramatic as the flail chest chest video), and in the severe later stages, the displacement of the trachea. You think those are actually noticeable in real life?