EMT Medical Terminology
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138 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Acidosis | an acid condition of the body - can occur with decreased ventilations - not enough carbon dioxide is eliminated. With water, CO2 becomes carbonic acid. |
| Alkalosis | an alkaline condition of the body - can occur with hyperventilation - blowing off too much carbon dioxide |
| Adjuncts | things that help - so oxygen assist in the delivery of oxygen |
| Agitation | an emotional state of being restless, anxious, nervous |
| Aggravation | an emotional state of being angry, or extremely unhappy about something |
| Algorithm | an illustrative method to summarize assessment and treatment information. Memory aids. |
| Antecubital | pertaining to the front of the elbow - a place to start an IV |
| Arthritis | an inflammation of the joints |
| Aspirate | to suck into |
| Atrophy | a wasting of tissue - when leg is not in use it wastes away |
| Bifurcate | to split in two - the trachea bifurcates at the carina into two main stem bronchi |
| Blunt trauma | an injury that was caused by a blunt object - no break in the skin |
| Child | pediatrics- a child is over 1 year old but less than 14 |
| Compromise | to make worse - compromised airway |
| Contraindicated | a condition that renders a treatment improper or undesirable |
| Copious | large amounts |
| Dermatology | the study of the skin |
| Ectopic | out of the ordinary (pregnancy, pacemaker, beats) |
| Edema | swelling of tissue due to excessive fluid in the area |
| Electrodes | the "leads" placed on a patient's chest for ECG |
| Embolus | a lump of something traveling through the blood vessel (air, fat from a fracture or blood clot) |
| Emphysema | means trapped air - a chronic respiratory disease that involves trapping air |
| Epistaxis | medical term for nosebleed |
| Epidemiology | the study of the distribution of illness & injury across a population and the applying this knowledge to help control disease |
| Etiology | the study of the cause of a disease |
| Evisceration | an open wound where internal organs are visible on the outside such as an abdominal evisceration |
| Exacerbate | to make worse - increased severity of symptoms |
| Expedite | to hurry along, to do quickly |
| Expiration | to breathe out - exhalation |
| Febrile | having a fever |
| Fibrillation | where the ventricles stop contracting properly and just quiver, no pumping |
| Gait | a manner of walking - ataxic gait refers to staggering |
| Geriatrics | relating to elderly patients |
| Hemothorax | blood filling the pleural space - a life-threatening chest injury |
| Hemopneumothorax | blood and air filling the pleural space |
| Hernia | an injury where internal organs are pushed through a opening into an area where they do not normally occur |
| High flow oxygen | either 6 liters by NC or 12 liters by face mask |
| Hives | an allergic skin reaction characterized by blood vessel dilation (flush skin), cell membrane permeability (edema), itchy |
| Hyperglycemia | abnormally high blood sugar |
| Hypoglycemia | abnormally low blood sugar |
| Hypovolemia | abnormally low blood volume |
| Hypertension | abnormally high blood pressure (>140/90) |
| Hypotension | abnormally low blood pressure (systolic <90 in adult) |
| Hypertrophy | over growth - such as in the heart, left ventricular hypertrophy is a result of chronic hypertension |
| Hyperventilation | abnormally rapid and deep respirations |
| Incontinence | lack of bowel or bladder control - could indicate brain or spinal cord injury |
| Infant | child over 1 month, but less than 1 year old |
| Infiltration | something an IV can do - when the needle comes out of the vein but remains in the air still infusing liquids |
| Infusion | putting fluids into someone |
| Inspiration | to draw into - inhalation |
| Inter- | meaning between - interstitial fluid=between the cells |
| Intra- | meaning within- intravenous |
| Invasive | entering the body with an object - needle or blade |
| Ischemia | inadequate perfusion - not pumping or supplying the tissue adequately |
| Leads | small sticky patches places on the patient's torso for ECG |
| Malaise | feeling lousy, uneasy, discomfort |
| Macro | means large - used to describe IV tubing that puts out big drops of IV fluids |
| Micro | means very small - used to describe IV tubing that puts out very little drops of IV fluids |
| Morbidity | the incidence of injury or illness |
| Mortality | the incidence of death |
| Necrosis | tissue death |
| Neonate | "new born" = from birth till one month old |
| Neurologic deficit | a nerve function that is diminished or absent - such as partial paralysis or weakness |
| Occlude | to block or obstruct -an occlusion is a blockage |
| Parameter | the boundaries or measurements of things |
| Paresthesia | an abnormal finding of the sensory system - such as a tingling sensation, a burning feeling, or the pins and needles sensation |
| Patent | open or unobstructed |
| Patho- | pertains to disease |
| Pathology | the study of disease |
| Pathologic | "diseased" or bad |
| Pathogenic | something that produces a disease |
| Pedal | pertaining to the foot |
| Pediatric | any patient under the age 14 |
| Perfusion | supplying blood through blood vessels through tissues |
| Permeability | the characteristic of a membrane to leak, to become more permeable |
| Petechiae | pinpoint, non-raised, purplish-red spots on the skin caused by intradermal or mucus membrane hemorrhage (pe-teke-eal) |
| Phlebitis | inflammation of the veins |
| Phlebotomy | putting a needle into a vein a withdrawing blood |
| Pitting edema | severe pedal edema that leaves a dent or pit in the skin when you press on it |
| Placebo | usually a sugar pill that is given in place of a real medication - used sometimes as a control in a medical study |
| Plaque | a deposit that builds up |
| Pleuritic | as in pleuritic chest pain = pain in the chest wall that is usually stabbing and very sharp pain, often when inhaling |
| Pneumothorax | a collapsing lung - air in the pleural space |
| Polyp | a lump of tissue growing where it shouldn't |
| Post mortem | after death |
| Postural vital signs | "orthostatic vital" BP and pulse are taken when the patient is in each of three postures, lying supine, sitting in the "dangle position" and standing. Patient is considered hypovolemic if the BP drops more that 20 mmHg or the pulse raises more than 20 beats per min. |
| Posturing | assuming an abnormal body position usually in an unconscious patient with severe neurological injuries |
| Prognosis | a prediction of the course and outcome of a disease |
| Prolapsed | to push through an opening |
| Prosthesis | an artificial limb |
| Pulmonary edema | fluid build up in the lungs, leaking in the alveolar spaces, producing a breath sound called "crackles" |
| Shock | a rapid and progressive deterioration or depressed state of the vital body functions brought about by an inadequate tissue perfusion with oxygen. It is a syndrome, a collection of signs and symptoms. |
| Shunt | something that moves things from one place to another- dialysis shunt |
| Spontaneous pneumothorax | a type of pneumothorax where, with no known cause and no injury, a lung just deflates |
| Stoma | an artificial opening - such as surgically created |
| Tamponade | to press upon |
| Tension pneumothorax | a type of pneumothorax where after completely collapsing the lung with air filling the plural space, more air enters the space and then, on exhale, causes compression of the mediastinum - affecting the heart by preventing refilling |
| Thrombus | a blood clot within a blood vessel |
| Thrombophlebitis | inflammation of a vein with the formation of a blood clot |
| Tinnitus | a ringing, buzzing or hissing in the ear |
| Urticaria | hives - raised, red, itchy patches on the skin indicating a allergic reaction |
| Valsalva's maneuver | a way of creating a high intra-thoracic pressures - It stimulates baroreceptors and slows heart down via the vagus nerve - its done by bearing down while hold one's breath, or by trying to exhale forcefully with a closed glottis. |
| Vertigo | feeling that the room is spinning |
| Antibiotic | a medication manufactured to kill bacteria |
| Antibodies | something your immune system makes to fight disease |
| Antigen | a foreign protein that is recognized by your immune system - you form antibodies against it, to kill it and provide immunity |
| Aseptic | free from infection or contamination |
| Antiseptic | something that inhibits growth of micro-organisms |
| Aseptic technique | procedures used to prevent contamination of the wound or equipment being used |
| Decontamination | process of removing undesirable substance from an object or person |
| Disinfection | destruction of infectious agents outside the body by chemical or physical means |
| Inflammation | part of the body's immune response - it is a protective response. The mild fever and reddening of the skin are normal. |
| Septic | infected - a septic wound, or septic shock |
| Sterile | completely free of any living organisms |
| Prostaglandins | a group of substances produced in tissues that produce effects mostly related to inflammation, including increasing vascular and cell membrane permeability, vasodilatation, bronchoconstriction, blood clotting, an stimulation of pain nerves |
| Interleukins | a group of substances produced in tissue that produce effects related to inflammation; including helping maximize white blood cell response against a foreign substance like bacteria. They also produce fever related illness |
| Leukotrienes | a group of substances produced in tissue that produce effects related to inflammation; including extremely powerful bronchoconstrictors, and are involved with asthma. They are very powerful vasodilators, and produce much of the vascular collapse found in anaphylaxis |
| Titer | an antibody count - if you have a high enough titer you are said to be immune to a particular disease |
| Osmosis | the process by which water is pulled toward a crystalloid (a salt or sugar) |
| Atelectasis | describes stale air in the lungs, usually due to inadequate respiratory volume &/or poor gas exchange |
| Orthopnea | difficult breathing when patient is lying down straight |
| Hypoxemia | an insufficient amount of oxygen being carried in the blood |
| Anoxia | total absence of oxygen at a tissue level |
| Antipyretic | a medication that will lower a pathologically high fever |
| Medical control | physician instructions hat are given directly by radio or cell phone (online/direct) or indirectly by protocol/guidelines (off-line/indirect), as authorized by the medical director. |
| Medical director | the physician who authorizes or delegates to the EMT the authority to provide medical care in the field. |
| Acute stress reaction | reaction to stress that occurs during a stressful situation |
| BSIP | body substance isolation precautions |
| Cumulative stress reaction | prolonged or excessive stress |
| Delayed stress reaction | reaction to stress that occurs after a stressful situation |
| General adaptation syndrome | the body's response to stress that begins with an alarm response, followed by a stage of reaction and resistance, and then recovery or, if the stress is prolonged, exhaustion |
| Hepatitis | inflammation of the liver, usually caused by a viral infection, that causes fever, loss of appetite, jaundice, fatigue, altered liver function (Types A-G) |
| Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) | acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is caused by HIV, which damages cells in the body's immune system so that the body is unable to fight infection or certain cancers. |
| Infection | the abnormal invasion of a host or host tissue by organisms such as bacteria, viruses, or parasites, with or without signs and symptoms of disease. |
| Pathogen | a microorganism that is capable of causing disease in a susceptible host. |
| Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) | a delayed stress reaction to a prior incident. This delayed reaction is often the result of one or more unresolved issues concerning the incident. |
| Transmission | the way in which an infectious disease is spread: contact, airborne, by vehicles, or by vectors |
| Vector-borne transmission | the use of a animal to spread an organism form one person to another |
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