1. Chapter 6 Environmental Emergencies

2. Heat-Related Illnesses & Cold-Related Emergencies
Heat cramps-first signal that they body is having trouble with the heat.
What to look for:
painful muscle spasms.
What to do:
* move the person to a cool place to rest
* give them fluids; sports drink, fruit juice or
milk, water.
* stretch the muscle and massage the area
gently.
* DO NOT GIVE THEM SALT that can worsen
the cramps.

3. * when the cramps stop, the person can resume activity.
Heat Exhaustion
More severe condition than heat cramps.
Often affects: athletes, firefighters, construction workers and factory workers.
What to look for:
* cool, moist, pale, ashen or flushed skin
* headache; nausea; dizziness; weakness; and exhaustion.
CALL IMMEDIATELY

4. What to do until help arrives
1. rapidly cool the body
2. cover with ice bags
3. apply cooling methods for 20min. Or until body conditions improve.
4. give care for any other conditions found.

5. Cold-Related Emergencies
Frostbite:
Freezing of body parts
Severity depends upon:
Air temperature
Length of exposure
The wind
* can lose fingers, hands, arms, toes, feet, and legs

6. What to look for 1. lack of feeling in affected area
2. swelling and skin appears waxy
3. skin is cold to touch or discolored
4. blisters, may turn black (signs of deep tissue damage).
Call for more serious frostbite or seek medical help as soon as possible

7. What to do until help arrives
1. remove wet clothing and jewelry
2. NEVER rub the area
3. rewarm affected area by skin-skin contact.
4. more serious injury:
Soak in warm water, not warmer than 105
Keep the affected area in the water until normal color returns and it feels warm

8. 5. Do not break any blisters.
6. place sterile dressing around area
7. Do not give ibuprofen or other nonsteroidal anti- inflammatory drugs

9. Hypothermia The body's ability to stay warm is gone
A person will die if care is not given
The homeless, elderly, the ill and young children are at risk.

10. Conditions that can lead to hypothermia
1. ingesting, alcohol other drugs and certain medication that can interfere with the body's ability to stay warm
2. impaired circulation
3. prolonged exposure to cold, wet/windy
Condition or clothing.

11. What to look for: 1. shivering 2. Numbness 3. glassy stare
4. indifference
5. loss of consciousness
If the person stops shivering before warming up, the condition has worsen, call immediately

12. What to do while waiting for help:
1. care for any life-threatening conditions
2. carefully move the person to a warm place
3. remove wet clothing, put on dry clothing
4. wrap the body in a blanket or plastic sheet, cover the head to prevent heat loss

13. 1. person maybe unconscious 2. check for breathing
Severe hypothermia
1. person maybe unconscious
2. check for breathing
3. the body may feel stiff or ridged
4. be prepared to start CPR

14. Preventing heat & cold related emergencies
1. Do not go outside during the hottest or coldest part of the day.
2. Do activities according to temperature
3. take frequent breaks
4. dress appropriately
5. drink large amounts of fluids

15. 4.signals for an allergic reaction
Bites and Stings
Insect Stings
1. look for a stinger
2. pain
3. swelling
4.signals for an allergic reaction

16. What to do: 1. Remove any visible stinger
2. wash the site with soap and water
3. cover and keep the site clean
4. Put a cold pack on the area to reduce pain and swelling
5. call if the person start to have trouble breathing.

17. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever It’s a bacterial infection
Tick-Borne Disease
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
It’s a bacterial infection
Occurs mostly the spring and summer
Mostly occur in children

18. What to look for: Signs occur between 2 and 14 days Fever Nausea
Vomiting
Muscle aches or pains
Lack of appetite
Severe headache

19. Later signals: Rash- spotted rash Abdominal pain Joint pain Diarrhea
Contact health care provider
If left untreated it can become life threatening

20. Babesia infection protozoa infection
Spread by deer ticks and black-legged ticks
What to look for:
1. fever
2. sweats
3. chills
body aches and headaches
4. no appetite
5. nausea
6. fatigue

21. The can cause a type of anemia that can cause jaundice and dark urine
The can cause a type of anemia that can cause jaundice and dark urine. If untreated it can be life threatening.
Seek medical help

22. Ehrlichiosis causes by the ehrlichia bacteria lone star tick
Symptoms appear 5 to 10 days after the bite
Fever, headache, fatigue, muscle aches
Can develop: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cough, joint pains, confusion rash.
Seek medical help

23. Spread by deer tick and black- legged tick
Lyme disease
Spread by deer tick and black- legged tick
Tick is very small, hard to see.
The tick must be attached to the skin 36 to 48 hours to transmit the disease.

24. What to look for: A rash will appear just a few days after bitten.
The rash looks like a bulls eye, and spreads outward. Some people never develop a rash.
Fever, headache, weakness, joint and muscle pain.

25. Advanced stages of Lyme disease
painful arthritis
Numbness in the arms, hands or legs
Severe headaches, long or short term memory loss, confusion
Dizziness
Problems in seeing or hearing
Can cause heart problems
Seek medical care immediately

26. Preventing tick-borne diseases
Check for ticks immediately after outdoor activity
Quickly remove any ticks
Wash all clothing, check your pets

27. Removal of a tick Use a sharp pointed tweezers
Get as close to the skin as possible
Pull slowly and firmly do not twist
Do not try to burn off a tick
Do not apply petroleum jelly or nail polish to the tick
Wash with soap and water, apply an antibiotic ointment
If you can’t remove the tick, have them seek medical attention.

28. Mosquito-Borne Illness
West Nile virus
Passed on to humans and other animals from infected mosquitos
Cannot be passed from person to person
Less than 1% of people bitten by a mosquito will get WNV.
Only 1 in 150 who are infected will become ill.

29. Preventing West Nile Virus
use insect repellents containing DEET
stay indoors at dusk and dawn, this is when they are most active.
Good screens on your windows and doors
Get rid of mosquito breeding sites, empty out standing water.

30. What to look for: 1. high fever 2. headache 3. neck stiffness
4. confusion
5.coma
6.tremors
7. convulsions
8. muscle weakness
9. vision loss
10. numbness
11. paralysis
May last several weeks, can cause swelling of the brain and death.
Seek medical care immediately if you have these symptoms

31. Spider Bites and Scorpion Stings
Deadly spiders:
Black widow
Brown recluse
Northwestern brown or hobo

32. Black widow: black, red or brown
Has a reddish hour glass on the underside of its body.
Brown recluse or fiddleback: has a fiddle shape of its back.
The like dark place to hide.

33. Scorpions live in dry regions Live under rocks, trees
Active mostly at night
Only a few species sting can cause death
Hard to tell the difference so they all should be treated as a medical emergency.

34. What to look for Black widow has the most painful bite.
Rigid muscles in the shoulders, chest, back and abdomen.
Restlessness, anxiety, dizziness, headache, excessive sweating, drooping or swelling of the eyelids

35. Brown recluse:
Little to no pain
A blood-filled blister forms under the skin.
The blister increases in size then burst open
Tissue destruction

36. Signs of spider bites & Scorpion stings
1. mark of a possible bite or sting
2.severe pain at the site
3. nausea and vomiting
4. stiff or painful joints
5. chills or fever
6. trouble breathing/swallowing
7. sweating or salivating profusely
8. dizziness or fainting, chest pains
9. elevated heart rate, infection at the site
Call immediately

37. What to do until help arrives
Wash the wound thoroughly
Apply an antibiotic ointment
Bandage the wound
Apply an ice or cold pack
Encourage the person to seek medial care
Keep the area elevated

38. Venomous Snake Bites 7000 people are bitten yearly Fewer than 5 die
Rattlesnakes account for most deaths in the United States.
What to look for:
A bite mark
Pain
Swelling

39. When to call 9-1-1 A bite from a venomous snake: Rattlesnake
Copperhead
Cottonmouth
coral

40. Call 9-1-1 immediately What to do until help arrives Wash the wound
Apply an elastic bandage to slow the spread of venom:
Check for feeling, warmth and color of the skin
Place the end of the bandage against the skin and use overlapping turns
The wrap should cover a long body section
Check above and below the injure
Check the snugness of the bandage
Keep the injured are still and lower than the heart

41. Do not apply ice
Do not cut the wound
Do not apply suction
Do not apply a tourniquet
Do not use electric shock, such as from a car battery.

42. Animal Bites: Most serious possible result is rabies
Transmitted through saliva
Animals with rabies may act strangely
May drool
Appear to be partially paralyzed
Act aggressively or strangely quiet
If not treated rabies is fatal

43. What to look for: A bite mark Bleeding
Call if bleeding is serious, you think the animal may have rabies.
Try to remember what the animal looked like and where you last saw the animal

44. What to do until help arrives
Caring for an animal bite
1. control the bleeding first.
2. Do not clean serious wounds, they will clean it at the hospital
3. if bleeding is minor wash the area with soap and water.
4. apply any antibiotic ointment
5. watch for signals of infection

45. Marine Life Stings
The stings are painful, can make you sick and some can kill you.
What to look for:
Possible puncture wounds
Pain
Swelling
Signs of possible allergic reaction

46. When to call 9-1-1 If they do not know what stung them
A sting on the face, neck and starts to have breathing problems
Until help arrives:
Get a lifeguard to remove the person from the water.
If you know it is from a jellyfish, apply vinegar to the area for 30 seconds

47. If it is from a bluebottle jellyfish, also called man-of-war, use ocean water not vinegar to rinse the area.
Do not rub the wound, apply pressure
Once the stinger is removed, apply hot-water
If the sting is from: stingray, sea urchin or spiny fish, flush with tap water
Soak the area in hot water for 20min. And then bandage.
Watch for infection.

48. Poisonous plants
How to protect yourself or limit the effects of poisonous plants.
Remove exposed clothing
Wash the area with soap and water as soon as possible
Wash exposed clothing
Wash hands after exposed to pets
Put a paste of baking soda and water on the area several times a day
See a health care worker if conditions become worse.

49. Lightning
In the United States lightning causes more deaths then any other weather hazard
Kills 100 people yearly and injures or 300
Travels up to 300 miles per second
Lightning can carry up to 50 million volts of electricity.

50. Preventing lightning injuries
Pick campsites that meet safety precautions
Know local weather patterns
Postpone activities ,lightning can hit without rain.
Watch cloud patterns and conditions
Designate safe locations and move to it.
Every 5 seconds between the flash of lightning and the sound of thunder equals 1 mile.

51. Find shelter quickly
If the count is 30 seconds or less it is with in 6 miles.
Wait at least 30 min. after the last clap of thunder before leaving the shelter
Stay away from plumbing, electrical equipment and wiring
Do not use a corded phone
If there is a tornado alert go to the lowest interior level of a building.

52. In a lightning storm move downhill
Seek uniform covering, low rolling hills
if in a boat, get to land and seek cover
Avoid all of the following:
Metal
anything connected to electrical power
High places, tall trees
Open places
Damp, shallow caves and tunnels
Overhangs
Flood zones
Fences

53. If lightning is striking near by you
Squat down on an insulating material,
Take off any metal
Do not lie down, make as little contact to the ground as possible
If you feel your hair stand up your skin get tingly
Cover your ears with your hands
Close your eyes
Get your head close to your knees

54. Lightning injuries They are serious and can be fatal Unconsciousness
Dazed, confused behavior
Trouble breathing
No breathing
Burn marks on the skin or other open wounds
Muscle injuries, broken bones

55. Call 9-1-1 if a person is hit by lightning
What to do until help arrives
Perform CPR if needed
Give care for injuries
Be ready to care for any other injuries that may develop, hypothermia if the person is wet.