Word Power: Test Your Knowledge of These First Aid Terms
Updated: Oct. 06, 2020First-aid skills can prove invaluable. Review these terms from common medical situations and be prepared.
Distal
A: Left of the heart
B: Remotely activated
C: Away from where a limb attaches to the body
Answer: C—Away from where a limb attaches to the body
As in, “To ensure Mira’s leg bandage wasn’t too tight, Ali checked her distal circulation.”
Here are the specific items that you should stock in first-aid kits for your home, your car and the great outdoors.
Bystander effect
A: Accident-witness trauma
B: Belief that someone else will take action
C: When rubberneckers block paramedics’ access to the scene
Answer: B—Belief that someone else will take action
As in, “Most witnesses to the accident succumbed to the bystander effect, but Nandini intervened.”
Check out these news stories from the world of medicine.
Answer: C—Band of tissue that connects bones
As in, “A sprain is a stretching or tearing of ligaments.”
Naloxone
A: Opioid-antagonist drug
B: Optical thermometer
C: splint used to immobilize fractures
Defibrillator
A: Carbon monoxide detector
B: Anti-anxiety medication
C: Apparatus for restoring an effective heart rhythm
Answer: C—Powder used in soothing lotions
As in, “Calamine can reduce the itching caused by poison ivy.”
Check out these other home remedies for poison ivy.
Crepitus
A: Grating noise caused by fractured bone friction
B: Reversible state of clinical death
C: Extreme loss of balance
Answer: A—Infected
As in, “To lower the risk of a septic wound, wash the area, apply antibiotic cream and cover it.”
Answer: A—Excess blood sugar
As in, “Medical ID bracelets can help bystanders recognize hyperglycemia and other diabetic emergencies.”
Talk to your doctor if you notice these signs of diabetes.
Answer: B—Severe allergic reaction
As in, “Ji-Yoon went into anaphylaxis but fortunately had an EpiPen.”
Don’t dismiss these symptoms that could signal a serious disease.
