November 28th, 2023 Mrs. Bryant (ER Nurse) Mr. David (Respiratory Specialist)
Mr. Jesse (ER Nurse)
Ms. Breanna (ER Nurse)
D.E.C.O.N Tent
Mrs. Bryant, an ER Nurse at USA Hospital, began today with an activity. She handed each student a card with "Eyes, Skin, or Respiratory" on it. We were instructed to act out the trauma on the card. This showed me and my classmates how chaotic and loud an emergency room is during a mass casualty. Once the patients arrive at the ER, they are assessed and labeled from a black (Untreatable), red (Critical Condition), yellow (Intermediate Condition), and green (Stable Condition) spectrum.
The DECON Tent is a way for mass decontamination. The patients would separate into their triages and then walk through their gender-assigned areas of the tent. Inside the tent, they would strip, shower, and reclothe. After they are decontaminated, the ER Nurses and doctors can treat them.
"Eye, Life, Limb"
Eyes
Mrs. Breanna, ER Nurse, talked to the class about specific eye related injuries; eye traumas, burns, cuts, or impairments. She taught us about different tests and treatments for eye related tramas. For example, foreign bodies will be removed by drilling them down with a nail file like drill or or using a Morgans Lens to flush out the chemicals in the eyes.
Another test she demonstrated for us was the pH paper test. The eye should normally be around a 7, so they test the pH on a pH strip before and after cleansing the eye. This way they are able to confirm the acidity of the chemical and make sure that they have successfully removed it all.
Skin
Mr. Jesse, ER Nurse, talked to us about the dangers of chemical burns. A burn can be anywhere from a first degree to a fourth degree. Anywhere from a third to a fourth degree burn would be a Chlorine burn. This means the chemicals have burned and killed two to three of the layers of skin.
Some of the treatments for chemical burns are icing it, scrubbing off the dead skin and allowing new skin to regrow, or skin graft surgery. USA hospital has the largest burn treatment center in the Mobile area, so they see burn patients almost everyday. The least common burn that Mr. Jesse sees is a hydrochloric acid.
Respiratory
Mr. Jesse, respiratory specialist, told us about the dangers of chemical inhaliations. Chlorine gas, which can be found in household cleaning supplies, is the specific injury we discussed. Since Chlorine is water souble, it travels slower throughout the respiratory system and through the lungs.
There are three steps to assessing a patient:
1) appearance and skin color
2) details: X-Rays/Blood Work
3) pulse oximeter
There are many different types of treatments, but the main goal is to get oxygen into the body. Below are images of many different treatments for difficulty breathing, from oxygen masks to a Cric Punctur.
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