Mrs. Debbie Morgan is a 45-year-old female who works as astocking clerk for a local home improvement store. While she was atwork today a large box of metal rivets fell from a 20-ft.-highoverhead shelf, striking her outstretched arm and knocking her tothe ground. The ambulance personnel reported that she had lostquite a bit of blood at the accident scene and was “knocked outâ€when they arrived. To minimize further hemorrhage, the paramedicsapplied a pressure bandage to her arm.
You meet the paramedics as they bring Mrs. Morgan into theemergency room and begin to assess her for injuries. She is awakeand alert, but complaining of severe left arm and back pain, plusshe has a “killer headache.†To fully examine her injuries youremove four blood-soaked bandages from her arm. You notice a largeopen wound on her arm with what appears to be bone tissue stickingout of the skin. She also has bruises covering her left shoulder,left wrist, and lower back. To determine the extent of her injuriesMrs. Morgan undergoes several x-rays, which reveal thefollowing:
1) fracture of the left humerus at the proximal diaphysis,
2) depressed fracture of the occipital bone,
3) fracture of the 3rd lumbar vertebral body.
Short Answer Questions
Define the following terms, used in the case and also inassociated questions (1 point each):
- hemorrhage
- fracture
- proximal
- diaphysis
