exhalation this process is reversed, and air is forced back out of the lungs. Close your mouth, pinch your nose, and try to breathe in and out. Negative pressure during attempted inhalation and positive pressure during attempted exhalation are produced, but no air moves because you have created a closed system and there is no opening to the outside through which air can enter and exit.
With a wound that produces a large enough opening in the chest wall, the normal expansion of the chest during inhalation sucks air from the outside, through the wound, and into the chest cavity, in the space between the lung and the chest wall. With exhalation air is forced back through the opening and out of the
chest cavity (Figure 5). The lung on the injured side will collapse, and a sucking sound is made with each inhalation and exhalation as air moves back and forth through the wound—thus the name "sucking chest wound." Fortunately, each lung is self-contained on its side of the chest, so that the lung on the uninjured side will remain inflated and function normally.
No, waiting ten minutes for help isn't a problem. Even an hour is okay if the person is otherwise healthy. The victim would survive and be able to speak with only one lung for quite some time. He would be short of breath, cough a lot, and be in pain, and fear would be a big factor, but he would live.
The dressing applied should be "occlusive"; that is, it should seal the opening in an airtight fashion. A porous gauze wouldn't do. There are several types of plastic-coated bandages that stick to the skin and make an airtight seal. Also, a sheet of plastic wrap, a plastic
food or trash bag, or a piece of cellophane would work. If only gauze is available, it should have some salve such as petroleum jelly, butter, or mud applied to it; that would make it airtight or nearly so.
If the lung itself wasn't also punctured, some re-expansion of the lung would occur while the victim awaited transport to a facility for definitive treatment. Once at the hospital a surgeon would repair the wound and place a thoracostomy tube (or chest tube). This large-bore plastic tube is slipped through the chest wall and into the chest cavity between the lung and the chest wall. Suction is applied to the tube in order to reinflate the lung. After a few days the tube is removed. The victim should recover and do well if this is his only injury.
/
ENVIRONMENTAL INJURIES AND THEIR TREATMENT
What Happens When Someone Dies from Exposure?
Q: What does it mean when someone dies of exposure— not freezing to death, just exposure?
A: "Exposure" is a broad term that covers deaths from freezing, heatstroke, starvation, and dehydration. In short, if the victim is in the middle of nowhere and doesn't die from injury or illness, then exposure is what did it. He didn't have food, water, or shelter. So to answer your specific question, if cold or heat isn't a factor, then lack of food and water is the likely culprit.
What Happens When Someone Dies from Dehydration?
Q; What's it like to die of dehydration? Delirium? Extreme thirst or the opposite? Does the mind fool the victim into seeing mirages? How long would this process take in an elderly woman lost in the mountains during the summer?
A: Dehydration is when the body loses water. This loss occurs due to sweating and through the lungs during normal breathing
(called "insensible loss," since we are unaware of water lost in this fashion). The drier the air is and the more rapid the breathing, the more water will be lost through the lungs. Literally quarts of water can be lost this way. Any activity such as walking, running, carrying a backpack, or climbing increases the rate of breathing and, thus, insensible water loss. Hot and dry climates lead to more rapid water loss, though the dry air in winter mountains can cause considerable dehydration even though the temperature is low.
The time required for dehydration to appear depends on these and other
With a wound that produces a large enough opening in the chest wall, the normal expansion of the chest during inhalation sucks air from the outside, through the wound, and into the chest cavity, in the space between the lung and the chest wall. With exhalation air is forced back through the opening and out of the
chest cavity (Figure 5). The lung on the injured side will collapse, and a sucking sound is made with each inhalation and exhalation as air moves back and forth through the wound—thus the name "sucking chest wound." Fortunately, each lung is self-contained on its side of the chest, so that the lung on the uninjured side will remain inflated and function normally.
No, waiting ten minutes for help isn't a problem. Even an hour is okay if the person is otherwise healthy. The victim would survive and be able to speak with only one lung for quite some time. He would be short of breath, cough a lot, and be in pain, and fear would be a big factor, but he would live.
The dressing applied should be "occlusive"; that is, it should seal the opening in an airtight fashion. A porous gauze wouldn't do. There are several types of plastic-coated bandages that stick to the skin and make an airtight seal. Also, a sheet of plastic wrap, a plastic
food or trash bag, or a piece of cellophane would work. If only gauze is available, it should have some salve such as petroleum jelly, butter, or mud applied to it; that would make it airtight or nearly so.
If the lung itself wasn't also punctured, some re-expansion of the lung would occur while the victim awaited transport to a facility for definitive treatment. Once at the hospital a surgeon would repair the wound and place a thoracostomy tube (or chest tube). This large-bore plastic tube is slipped through the chest wall and into the chest cavity between the lung and the chest wall. Suction is applied to the tube in order to reinflate the lung. After a few days the tube is removed. The victim should recover and do well if this is his only injury.
/
ENVIRONMENTAL INJURIES AND THEIR TREATMENT
What Happens When Someone Dies from Exposure?
Q: What does it mean when someone dies of exposure— not freezing to death, just exposure?
A: "Exposure" is a broad term that covers deaths from freezing, heatstroke, starvation, and dehydration. In short, if the victim is in the middle of nowhere and doesn't die from injury or illness, then exposure is what did it. He didn't have food, water, or shelter. So to answer your specific question, if cold or heat isn't a factor, then lack of food and water is the likely culprit.
What Happens When Someone Dies from Dehydration?
Q; What's it like to die of dehydration? Delirium? Extreme thirst or the opposite? Does the mind fool the victim into seeing mirages? How long would this process take in an elderly woman lost in the mountains during the summer?
A: Dehydration is when the body loses water. This loss occurs due to sweating and through the lungs during normal breathing
(called "insensible loss," since we are unaware of water lost in this fashion). The drier the air is and the more rapid the breathing, the more water will be lost through the lungs. Literally quarts of water can be lost this way. Any activity such as walking, running, carrying a backpack, or climbing increases the rate of breathing and, thus, insensible water loss. Hot and dry climates lead to more rapid water loss, though the dry air in winter mountains can cause considerable dehydration even though the temperature is low.
The time required for dehydration to appear depends on these and other
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