Health Sessions » Trauma

Brain Trauma Manifests Itself As Emotional And Cognitive Impairments

Editor — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:30:07 +0000

It is believed that in the time span of a year almost ten million Americans are thought to suffer from some amount of head injury and nearly a fifth of them sustain brain injury. The brain may be harmed through blunt trauma to the head even in instances when the blow has failed to leave an obvious external injury.

Damage to the brain may include physical injuries such as sensory or speech impairment, headaches, paralysis or seizure disorders, and loss of emotional control or getting agitated for no apparent reason. Brain trauma can be seen in the form of emotional as well as cognitive impairments and overcoming such a condition can prove to be quite challenging. Such "invisible" harm to the brain is a real as well as sometimes-devastating injury that requires receiving medical treatment.

Progesterone Has Proved An Able Ally In Treating This Condition

In their efforts to treat patients suffering from brain trauma, doctors have found an unexpected ally in the hormone progesterone. This hormone, the doctors found, was safe to administer patients suffering brain trauma and provided them with a means to survive moderate head injuries as compared to those that were given a placebo.

The serious effects of brain trauma that is consequent to receiving a brain injury such as a gunshot wound or a blow to the head during a football game may result in slight dizziness, coma or even death. Progesterone can be used in helping brain trauma patients, and the progesterone receptors are widely distributed in the central nervous system which, it is believed makes it more helpful in treating brain trauma. When given progesterone, brain trauma patients were more likely to have better neurological outcomes.

The Brain trauma Foundation has made it its mission to improve the outcome of traumatic brain injury for patients throughout the United States. They believe that brain damage does not occur in all instances at the moment of impact, but rather evolves over the ensuing days as well as hours after initial injury and manifests itself in the form of swelling. Mostly, secondary damage can be controlled with the help of scientific, evidence-based guidelines that have been developed by the Brain trauma Foundation.

To further the cause of better brain trauma treatment, the Brain trauma Foundation has a number of programs that help in the clinical treatment of such patients and these include Emergency Medical Services Program, The Traumatic Brain Injury Lunchtime Lecture Series, and New York State Quality Improvement Program for Traumatic Brain Injury. Through such programs, the future as far as its treatment is concerned, certainly looks a lot rosier than before.

Basic Life Support Trauma Course Is Specially Suited For Paramedics And EMS Providers

Editor — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 02:00:18 +0000

A basic life support trauma course is useful for paramedics as well as advanced EMS providers and can impart knowledge about the skills required for rapid assessment, resuscitation, stabilization as well as transportation of trauma patients. A course such as this would suit advanced emergency medical technicians, paramedics as well as trauma nurses and its primary objective is to teach proper sequence of evaluation as well as the techniques of resuscitation, and also packaging a patient.

The manual of the basic life support trauma as well as other relevant material should have been studied prior to joining this course, and in order to be successful in passing this course, the student would need a minimum score of eighty percent on the written evaluation as well as proficiency in the evaluation stations. The course is available with many different institutions including Methodist Health System that has a history of caring for the community behind them.

Accepted All Over The World

Basic life support trauma courses have found acceptance throughout the world and ever since 1982, have been taught and become the standard for pre-hospital trauma care. There are several versions of this course being taught that include Basic, Advanced as well as Basic and Advanced Re-certification.

The Basic course spans two days of trauma assessment as well as treatment courses that targets first responders as well as hospital staff that have to deal with trauma patients. Participants get didactic knowledge as well as hands-on experience with oxygen delivery devices, basic airway devices, spinal motion restriction equipment as well as extrication devices and patient assessment tools.

The Advanced Basic life support trauma course is similar to the Basic course and targets providers in need of advanced skills who wish to learn as well as practice how to incorporate these skills into trauma care. Re-certification usually dovetails with the ongoing Basic and Advanced courses and are of a single day's duration at certain institutions.

Once a person has passed the Basic life support trauma course, he or she can then address the needs of trauma patients and such a course should be made mandatory for undergraduate curriculum with doctors needing to have, besides their MB, BS or equivalent, a certificate of competence in basic life support trauma. The content of such courses would include demonstration as well as learning the basics of life support techniques, maneuvers for controlling an airway as well as skills to ensure intravenous access and administration of drugs.

The Essential Trauma Care

Editor — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:59:59 +0000

Trauma mean injury in Latin and it basically covers any type of injury you may have encountered. However, today, many times traumas will be referred to injury of the mind and not physical such as, psychological trauma, brain trauma and/or vicarious trauma. Irrelevant of the type of trauma you are suffering, the only way to get it cured and thus, relief is to get the right trauma care.

Identify Your Trauma

Many people today live with psychological traumas for life without any cure because they don't want to believe they can be affected and/or suffer from a trauma at all, as they feel it is a sign of weakness. The most common types of traumas that we all suffer at one point or another is psychological and it can be from excessive stress, sudden grief from a death in the family, injury or medical condition and financial problems to name just a few.

When suffering from any type of psychological trauma, you will have symptoms such as, mood swigs, irritability, depression, change in sleep pattern, change in appetite, withdrawing from social events and activities that you once enjoyed and even some physical aches and pains. Learning to recognize these unusual behaviors will help you get trauma care in time so you can be on your way to getting healthy and living a normal and happy life.

Get Trauma Care

Ignoring the fact that you are suffering from a psychological trauma due to any reason will worsen your state and from mild symptoms you will develop full time behavior changes, which soon you will start confusing with your own character and personality and thus, change the way you behave and think. These changes may actually damage your health, relationships and even professional career, as you will not be able to be yourself in anything you do.

All types of traumas need trauma care and treatment in order to get relief and by ignoring it will not go away. Get help as soon as possible for your trauma by applying trauma care of talking about it to a family member or friend or seeing a doctor and attending therapy. Getting help in the initial stages will help you get relief faster than you think with the least amount of pain and damage but the first step you need to take is accepting that you need trauma care immediately.

Talking to people who are going through what you are can also help greatly to overcome a trauma, as you will get strength from observing how well others are dealing with their disorders. Get your life back today by recognizing your true nature and acknowledging when you don't feel your natural self.

Child Trauma: Dealing With Emotional Disturbances

Editor — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:30:03 +0000

Trauma is very crippling on both adults and children. However, although adults may find better ways of dealing with trauma, children often cannot express themselves so well. Often times, children would bottle up their fears inside them that they will end up with more emotional troubles later on. Child trauma could have some serious implications in the quality of life of a child. According to experts, child trauma may greatly affect the child's performance at school and would also have some negative effects on the way they deal with others.

In some extreme cases, child trauma could lead to severe mental disorders. According to experts, since a child has very rich imaginations, a bad experience would soon be translated into nightmares and phobias that could make the life of the child very miserable. Since child trauma is a serious affliction, therapy should be sought to help the child understand what he or she is going through. Never ignore the fears of the child because this could lead to a more serious disorder later in life.

Helping The Child Deal With Child Trauma

If your child is going through some difficult times, you should show him or her that you care. Provide the child with a secure environment. The more secure the child feels, the more that she or he will be able to deal with stressful situations. If your child is undergoing therapy, you should work closely with his or her doctor. Make it a point to discuss your child's situation with the doctor thoroughly so that you will be able to understand your child better. Moreover, find some books and reading materials about your child trauma and learn more about your child's condition. The more you know about child trauma, the better equipped you will be to help your child through rough times.

If your child is already of school age, you should not pull him or her out of school. Note that your child will have better chances of coping with child trauma if he or she can find a diversion of his or her thoughts. Being able to get out of the house and spend some time with his or her peers would help him or her learn to socialize. However, if your child is really severely disturbed and could really function well with other people, you may consider the option of home schooling your child. There is really no point of exposing your child to ridicule by his or her peers.

Child Abuse Trauma Can Lead To A Number Of Abnormal Behavioral Traits

Editor — Mon, 09 May 2011 23:15:07 +0000

Child abuse instances need to be taken seriously and be treated after learning to recognize signs of child abuse trauma in the abused children. Child abuse can be considered as being any act or failure to act that puts the child's physical or emotional health as well as development in danger, and one can consider a person to be abusing a child if that person fails to nurture the child or physically injures the child or relates sexually to the child.

Dire Consequences

Child abuse may take the form of physical, sexual, emotional abuse or sheer neglect. Child abuse trauma may incur dire consequences in the well being of the child through its childhood as well as prolongs itself into adulthood. The child may become impaired in its social behavior, or be alienated and withdraws into themselves, have suicidal tendencies, takes to substance abuse, has eating disorders and encounters problems with school work or may find it difficult to cope with the stress of work, and may take other unwanted escape routes that are considered abnormal.

Child abuse trauma can be extreme, and may depend on the severity of the abuse as well as the surrounding environment of the child. With a supportive as well as nurturing family and school environment, the child will be able to cope better with the trauma. However, it may not be the event that determines if something is traumatic or not; rather, it is the child's perception of the event.

There is much literature being churned out regarding child abuse trauma and this can be especially helpful for abuse specialists as well as for general therapists who need to understand the connection between many forms that the child takes to vent his or her pent up feelings.

Child abuse trauma can take the form of severe psychiatric problems, and children would likely develop reactive attachment disorder which may also be described as their having trauma-attachment problems. Disorganized attachment is normally associated with many different developmental problems that include dissociative symptoms and also anxiety, depression and acting-out symptoms.

An instance of child abuse trauma can become further aggravated because of circumstances that place families under more stress such as poverty, divorce, sickness, disability as well as lack of parental skills. It requires understanding the root cause of abuse so that methods may be developed to prevent as well as treat child abuse trauma victims. Children with such symptoms may be treated with Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy as well as cognitive behavioral therapy interventions, education, and EMDR.

The All-Important Trauma Kit

Editor — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:45:08 +0000

Whether an accident is a single-occupant car crash or the crash of a large passenger jet, the lives at risk are dependent on the supplies in the trauma kit as much as on the training of those who carry one to the scene. The trauma kit is an emergency room in a bag that arrives as soon as possible after an emergency.

The Golden Hour

Trauma surgeons know that the sooner an injured person is diagnosed and treated, the more of a chance he has to recover as well as possible. The 60 minutes following an accident is called the golden hour. Treatment given during this time can be more effective than the same treatment given later. Since few traumas occur in a hospital itself, the golden hour includes the time it takes for help to arrive and for a trained professional to get to the injured. How much of the hour is taken up with travel time depends on where the trauma occurs, how soon help is summoned and how many injured people are involved. The hour can be taken up by the distance or other considerations of the place in which it occurs. Someone who is injured by a fall on a mountain top will not reach a doctor in a short time. Neither will someone who is injured in a dangerous area like a building collapse since medical personnel will be kept away until the person is removed from the danger. The same is true when an accident involved dozens or hundreds of injured people. Those who get to medical help quickly will fare better than those who are the end of the line.

The best way to get medical help to the injured quickly is to bring trained personnel to the scene with a trauma kit in the possession of each one. Personnel on the scene can evaluate the danger of an injury and use the contents of the trauma kit to stabilize the patient sufficiently to survive the trip to a trauma center. Immediate care can be given to those suffering an asthma attack or heart attack. Bleeding wounds can be cleaned, if needed, and covered. Broken or fractured bones can be immobilized and protected for transportation. The trauma kit contains evaluation tools like a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope. Tools to clear an airway are an important part of the trauma kit. Burns can receive the necessary treatment thanks to the gel burn dressings and sterile dressings found in every trauma kit. Because of the tools and the personnel trained to use them, injured people can get the most from the golden hour.

A Medical Trauma Bag Should Enable First Responders To Provide Timely Medical Aid To Patients

Editor — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 18:00:10 +0000

Every medical team and first responder is in need of a medical trauma bag that will help them begin work on patients immediately, and should consist of a variety of instruments as well as supplies that can comfortably fit inside. Finding emergency resources in a hurry would require that the bag be able to methodically store items that are most often used in case of medical emergencies. It should provide the user with easy access without the need to fumble about for items that are needed in case of emergencies or other instances.

A good medical trauma bag may have a main compartment that is zippered with heavy duty zippers given the frequent zipping and unzipping that is required. In this regard, one could do with an Adventure medical trauma bag that are top quality items being water resistant and give medical professionals quick as well as easy access to their medical supplies.

The Infinity Jump Is A Superior Product

The medical trauma bag should have generous sizing as well as load-adjusting straps with enough pockets to hold tools along with place to store reflective tape and a comfortable waist belt would make it more functionally appealing. The Infinity Jump is one of the best medical trauma bags available on the market and was originally designed for the aero medical industry, but has since found favor in almost all situations thanks to its intelligent design as well as incredible versatility.

This medical trauma bag is ergonomically superior and is not very broad, being just a foot wide and is thus easy to carry about without causing back strain, and being durable, enjoys considerable advantages over the competition. It is made from U.S. made Ballistic Nylon and not off shore ballistic, and has a bottom that can be removed, and with a large fluid proof handle, provides users with non sagging transportability.

The interiors of this medical trauma bag are spacious and provide enough storage space to hold necessary medical supplies, and with padding and lining made from Velcro compatible fabric, provide value for money. Two movable dividers enable sufficient storage for all electronic monitoring equipment as well as suctions and more. For fewer than three hundred dollars ($275) it provides users with portability, safety as well as hands free operation that makes it ideal for most medical situations.

Trauma Nurse – A Demanding Yet Very Fulfilling Career

Editor — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 20:45:06 +0000

The nursing profession is regarded as one of the most important and most demanding positions in the field of medicine. Where the doctors attend to the patient for just a few minutes, the nurse gets to look after the patient during her whole shift. In fact, patients would get to know their nurses better than their doctors because the nurses are always there when they need them.

In big hospitals where lots of emergency cases are brought in every hour, the role of a trauma nurse is very important. Note that when a patient is brought into the hospital, the trauma nurse is one of the first people who will attend to the patient. As support personnel to the doctor in the emergency room, the trauma nurse has the responsibility to organize everything so that the doctors will be able to work more efficient to save the life of the patient.

What Does It Take To Become A Trauma Nurse?

The first thing that you will need to become a trauma nurse is to have that genuine concert for the well being of other people. Since a trauma nurse is expected to take on more responsibilities in the emergency room, he or she should have the proper attitude towards his or her job. If the trauma nurse cares deeply for his or her patient, he or she will be more willing to go another mile to help save the life of his or her patient.

The second thing that you will need to have to become a good trauma nurse is patience and stamina. Since the work could be very demanding and may require you to be with the patient for extended hours, you should be prepared to serve your patient even beyond your hours of work when the situation requires so.

The third thing that you need to have to become a trauma nurse is that specialized knowledge and skills in dealing with emergency circumstances. Although you are already trained to cope with emergencies as a nurse, becoming a trauma nurse would require you to get more trainings and experience in the emergency room. Note that a traumatic situation where the patient in seriously injured could lose his or her life any minute would require more skills on your part. Furthermore, since you will need to work with a critical care unit, you will need advanced and highly specialized knowledge in critical care.

Birth Trauma: When Giving Life To Your Baby Gets You Down

Editor — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:59:59 +0000

Birth trauma is usually associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that flows childbirth. Although there are many women who give birth to their babies with relative ease but there are also a lot of women all over the world who find childbirth as very stressful and painful experience that they end up having birth trauma. Women who are suffering from birth trauma manifest different types of symptoms. To help a woman cope with birth trauma, one must learn to recognize the different symptoms of this disorder.

Persistent Re-Experiencing

One of the most common manifestations of birth trauma is the so-called "persistent re-experiencing" where the patient would continue to relieve her horrible experience. Recurrent and intrusive memories of what happened would often cause nightmares and flashbacks that could cause a lot of discomforts on the part of the sufferer. Usually, when the suffer sees, smells or hears something that is associated with the event, she will start to feel anxious or panicky.

Often times, women who are suffering from birth trauma would have difficulty with their relationship with others. According to studies, because she is afraid of going through that painful and stressful experience again, she may start to withdraw from sex. Since sex is associated with childbirth, a woman who is going through severe birth trauma may develop some aversions towards sex.

Avoidance And Obsession

Many women who are suffering from birth trauma would rather not discuss their experience. Every time the topic of childbirth comes up, she will start to feel distressed and would not have anything to do with discussions related to childbirth. However, on the extreme end of the spectrum, some women who are going through birth trauma would be so obsessed about their experience that they would not talk about anything else other than their experience with childbirth.

As the woman becomes more obsessed with her childbirth experience, she would start losing sleep, becomes very irritable and sullen. More often than not, a woman who is experiencing trauma would have difficulty communicating and relating to other people around her.

To help a woman come to terms with there traumatic experience, it is best to seek for professional help. Note that childbirth trauma could have a very bad effect on the life of a woman. Seeing a doctor and getting the right form of therapy could help the woman cope with the situation.

The Job Of A Trauma Surgeon

Editor — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:45:03 +0000

A traumatic injury can occur in many different ways. The proper way to handle one is in a trauma center, by a trauma surgeon. Accidents, crime and disasters of all kinds can cause traumatic injuries that regular physicians have little experience in treating. The training and experience of a trauma surgeon can be the tool that saves lives.

The Trauma Center

The philosophy of the trauma surgeon is that trauma is a surgical disease that requires an integrated system of specialized care. A trauma surgeon can be found in emergency rooms, trauma resuscitation rooms, operating rooms, intensive care, trauma wards, rehabilitation departments and trauma outpatient clinics. A trauma patient should be evaluated as soon as possible to discover the extent of his injuries and determine the best course of treatment. Often, an event that results in traumas can cause multiple injuries. The first trauma surgeon to see the injured patient has to decide whether immediate treatment is necessary to keep the patient breathing, treat a heart attack, a pre-existing medical problem such as diabetes, or an injury such as internal bleeding. Next is the determination of what kind of diagnostic tests should be used. If an emergency surgical procedure is determined to be needed, the patient has to be stabilized, his blood typed and medical history found if possible to find out if drug allergies exist. Often, more than one trauma surgeon is needed to operate simultaneously on several injuries.

The patient usually received attention from the trauma surgeon in the intensive care unit following surgery because the after-effects of traumatic injury can be as dangerous as any overlooked injuries can be. The trauma surgeon is a specialist in both situations. Rehabilitation and therapeutic follow-up should also be overseen by a trauma surgeon. This specialty is trained in prehospital care (emergency room) to avoid preventable death due to traumatic injury, to oversee the stabilization during early care, to triage patients to set a priority among the injured, set up interdepartmental teamwork, restrict intensive care complications and take charge of rehabilitation. All of these jobs are intended to ensure that a patient can return to a normal life. Because of the serious nature and complicated nature of traumatic injury, the specialty of trauma surgeon is needed. While injuries usually include broken bones, burns and other seemingly ordinary problems, the mixture of injuries and the shock involved in traumatic injury make an impact on the ability of the patient to heal.

How Can A Birth Trauma Lawyer Help You Dispute Any Medical Injuries Your Baby Suffered During Delivery

Editor — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 17:15:05 +0000

Statistics show that 27 babies out of 1,000 suffer some form of birth trauma inflicted by the medical staff present at the time of delivery. You may not be aware of those injuries until you are out of the hospital and sometimes even years later when another doctor will diagnose a birth trauma, which is has damaged your child brain or other vital parts of the body.

Here are how a birth trauma lawyer can help you find justice for your baby as well as ensure that those negligent medical staff will never repeat such an act again.

Find The Right Birth Trauma Lawyer To Represent You

Due to the fact that negligent and uncaring medical staff does exist who do not take their job seriously and thus, compromise the quality of a human being's life, there are a number of birth trauma lawyers available to ensure that justice is done in such cases. It is usually recommended to hire a birth trauma lawyer in the city where the incident occurred so he or she can follow up the case and get the evidence required if need be.

However, if you have moved and it is inconvenient to hire a birth trauma lawyer where your child was born then, getting one where you live now should do as well. The most common cases filed against doctors are: cephalohematoma, which usually occurs after birth, brachial palsy, which happens due to excessive pressure applied to the baby at the time of delivery, brachial plexus palsy and cerebral palsy to name just a few.

The babies are extremely delicate at the time of birth and mishandling in any shape or form will cause one or several injuries to the baby; some of these injuries can be treated and cured fully while others the child will have to live with for the rest of his or her life.

The Cost Of Dealing With Child Birth Trauma

The cost of dealing with child birth trauma affects everyone in the family because it is not only financial but also emotional and physical for the baby so, ensuring that you get the bottom of who is responsible for your child's trauma should be of importance to you and your family.

A birth trauma lawyer will be able to get your child treated for free if he wins your case and also ensure that those negligent medical staff doesn't ever make these mistakes again. The cost of your birth trauma lawyer will also be supported by the party at fault so you may end up not having to pay for his or her services but you would have already have pain enough in the suffering and grief caused by the injuries your child suffered at birth.

If your child is suffering from birth injuries get justice done today and hire a birth trauma lawyer to fight and win your case against those people that don't deserve to be placed in charge of human lives anyway.

Childhood Trauma: Understand How The Events Of Our Past Affect Our Present Lives

Editor — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:45:08 +0000

There are two types of trauma according to medicine. First, trauma can be defined as that critical or serious bodily injury, shock or would and second, in the psychiatry, it could mean an emotionally painful, distressful or shocking experience that produces long term metal and physical effects on the patient. Whether your childhood trauma is caused by the by serious physical injury or an emotional painful experience, there is a big possibility that the effects brought about by such incident will have a lasting effect on your personality.

Childhood Trauma And Personality Disorders

According to studies, personality disorders usually stems from some childhood trauma. A people who have witnessed domestic violence, child abuse, suicide of a loved one and many other painful events while they are young would often times be unable to fully recover from their childhood trauma that they end up with some kind of personality disorders. Although some children who have suffered childhood trauma would eventually recover and live normal lives when they grow up, there are many of them who would carry with them the mental anguish of their painful experience.

Childhood trauma is something that should be taken very seriously. According to experts, children who have been subjected to some very painful experience would often times remember and relieve their ordeals. Typically, the more violent or painful the event may be, the more traumatized the child will be.

In many cases, as a child continue to relieve his or her childhood trauma, he or she would soon develop a defense mechanism that would enable him or her to cope with the situation. If not properly recognized and treated, childhood trauma may lead to some personality disorders, as the child grows older. Depending on the cause of their childhood trauma, a person may develop some forms of morbid aversion or unreasonable fears towards something that is closely related to terrifying experience.

Coping With Childhood Trauma

More often than not, an unresolved childhood trauma would affect the social and emotional well being of a person as he or she grows up. Many people who have experienced trauma will have difficulty in coping with their daily lives, as they grow older. If a person starts to manifest some emotional or psychological disorders due to trauma, he or she should seek professional help immediately. Going into therapy would help a person understand his or herself better and then eventually come to terms with what happened in the past.

Trauma Nursing Career Many Doors Can Open To Certified Trauma Nurses

Editor — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:00:31 +0000

Nursing jobs are perhaps the number one career option that hospitals, healthcare companies as well as medical facilities recruit for. There are literally thousands of jobs available in these facilities and a trauma nursing career should open new doors as well as broaden the horizons for qualified trauma nurses. Trauma cases as well as emergency care require qualified nurses to become part of a response team that is responsible for triaging as well as caring for patients that have suffered traumatic accidents.

Must Be Able To Provide Service Of Acceptable Levels Of Competence

The trauma nursing career is open to those that can provide service of an acceptable level of competence that may require nurses to have passed and been certified in ACLS, PALS as well as having taken part and passed advanced Trauma Nursing courses. Trauma nurses are responsible for caring for patients of all ages that require emergency care. The trauma nurse should have decisiveness, be able to assess cases, as well as be able to quickly intervene and use sophisticated technology to provide vital aid to patients in order to help restore vital signs, arrest further loss of function as well as prevent complications or death.

Trauma nurses will typically be stationed in emergency rooms, urgent care centers, critical care units as well as intensive care units, and should at least have active RN licensure, and need to be certified by the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing in order to pursue a trauma nursing career.

The trauma nursing career is open to all nurses that have achieved the minimum qualifications required to pursue this path, and interested nurses could also become members of the Society of Trauma Nurses to become a part of this worldwide representative of trauma nurses. Interested nurses can, through such membership, improve on their educational qualification, get mentoring, and become part of interest groups and further their trauma nursing career.

There are many hospitals including the St George Hospital that have a strong focus on developing trauma nursing as a career. To advance oneself in the trauma nursing career, it may be necessary for nurses to gain valuable experience in handling trauma cases in emergency sections of such hospitals, and nurses interested to travel this path are encouraged to develop their skills through experiencing trauma in-service in such health care facilities and hospitals.

A career in trauma nursing has tremendous growth opportunities for qualified nurses competent in emergency care, and there are also many openings available in clinical research projects that employ a growing number of trauma nurses.

A Danger Of Chest Trauma

Editor — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:30:05 +0000

Today's TV lineup presents an enormous number of opportunities for the average person to learn far too much about trauma, its treatment, and possible results. The dangers attached to chest trauma are serious and varied, but one of the most common is traumatic pneumothorax. If you're up on your TV medical education, you may recognize the term. Otherwise, you have a bit to learn before the next episode of your favorite series.

Collapsed Lung

The common name for traumatic pneumothorax is a collapsed lung. When a chest trauma occurs, it can result in the collapsing of a lung. Whether the chest trauma is penetrating like a knife wound or gunshot wound, or blunt like the impact of a steering wheel, the result can be a collapsed lung. Injury to the lung can cause a pocket of air to become trapped between the injured lung and the chest wall, keeping the lung from becoming with air on its own. Sometimes the chest trauma that caused the injury can add blood to the pocket of air. Some risky medical procedures can also result in a collapsed lung. They include a transbronchial biopsy, a pleural biopsy, thoracentesis, a central venous catheter placement, intercostals needle anesthesia and esophagoscopy. When those procedures are performed, the doctor will watch for symptoms. All that is needed to repair a collapsed lung is to remove the pocket of air. Whether the procedure is a simple one depends on whether there is further chest trauma which can make entry through the chest wall dangerous.

Of course, chest trauma can cause other dangerous injuries. The chest contains the heart, lungs, and chest wall itself. Broken or fractured ribs can cause lacerations to the organs. Serious injury to two or more ribs can cause part of the thoracic cage to separate from the chest wall. Broken ribs can also be pushed in toward the lungs creating the danger of a punctured lung. A chest trauma is considered serious by emergency medical personnel. When an injured person is examined, one of the first things to be looked at is the ability of the patient to breathe normally. All steps necessary to aid the patient in breathing must be taken before the underlying injuries can be repaired. Now that you understand the potential dangers of chest trauma and the way in which they are handled, you are ready to return to your favorite medical television shows.

Nursing Trauma: A National As Well As International Problem Needing Advanced Skills And Knowledge

Editor — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:00:06 +0000

There are many nurses who have the vision of pursuing a nursing trauma career and see themselves applying to various nursing schools to open a window in the career of their choice. According to statistics available on trauma, injury is deemed to be the primary cause of death in persons aged below forty-five years of age, and optimal trauma patient care is best attained through a framework in which all concerned with treating traumatic cases do so in a systematic as well as standardized manner.

Reduces Morbidity As Well As Mortality Of Trauma Patients

Nursing trauma courses provide the necessary knowledge and background required for emergency nurses to deal with such cases. Through proper education, and after becoming a member of an emergency team, morbidity as well as mortality of trauma patients may be significantly reduced. In this regard, the Emergency Nurses Association has to take up the responsibility to facilitate trauma-related care as well as provide continuing education opportunities to nurses entrusted with caring for trauma patients.

Nursing trauma pertains to the discipline in which different roles are performed by nurses while taking care of trauma patients. At the very core of the discipline is the need for more knowledge, and the purpose of nursing trauma courses is to present core-level knowledge, refine skills as well as build a firm foundation on which nurses can deal with trauma patient care.

A nursing trauma course may take up sixteen to twenty hours in which the learner is provided with cognitive knowledge as well as psychomotor skills. For nurses with limited emergency nursing clinical experience, and who work in hospitals having limited access to trauma patients, the twenty hour course is recommended.

Some of the topics covered under the nursing trauma course include epidemiology, biomechanics and mechanisms of injury, initial assessment, shock, brain and craniofacial trauma, thoracic and neck trauma, abdominal trauma, spinal core and vertebral column trauma, musculoskeletal trauma, burn trauma, trauma and pregnancy, and much more. There is also taught nursing trauma process, airway and ventilation interventions, spinal immobilization as well as selected interventions for chest trauma and traction splinting.

To successfully pass the nursing trauma course, the learner need to attain eighty percent or higher on the multiple choice examination as well as demonstrate all critical steps plus score seventy percent of the total points in evaluated skill stations that includes nursing trauma process, airway and ventilation interventions as also spinal immobilization.

Help In Coping With Trauma

Editor — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:00:08 +0000

Traumatic events occur somewhere every day. Studies indicate that adults are less capable of coping with trauma than children and are more likely to suffer physical and emotional problems years after the traumatic events took place. The key to coping with trauma is to find the right kind of help as soon as possible.

PTSD

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was once treated as the result of war experience but is now accepted as the outcome of severely stressful events experienced by ordinary people as well. Survivors of child abuse as well as serious accidents may show the same kind of symptoms as those who have gone through battle. In order to be diagnosed with PTSD, a patient should have experienced an event or events that involved the death or serious injury – or threatened such danger – to the patient or others.

The second part of the diagnosis depends on the patient's response to the event which must include intense fear, helplessness or horror. PTSD is the result if the patient persistently reexperiences the event or the emotions of the event through images, thoughts or perceptions, or through distressing dreams of the event or by reliving the feeling of the event through hallucinations or flashbacks.

Reexperiences can also occur when the patient is exposed to anything that is a reminder of the traumatic event. A sufferer should look for professional help in coping with trauma when his or her life is disrupted by avoiding activities, places or people that trigger memories of the trauma, by lack of interest in important activities, by loss of the ability to feel emotions, or by a troubling sense of a shortened future. Other symptoms of problems coping with trauma include sleep problems, irritability, difficulty concentrating, increased startle response and a sense of hypervigilance.

These symptoms should date from the traumatic event in order to indicate a difficulty in coping with trauma. If the symptoms last longer than month and cause distress or the inability to function in normally important areas, then professional assistance is required. It's important for the person who suffers from PTSD to find assistance in coping with trauma before his life is seriously altered by the symptoms. Many people have had to find help in coping with trauma since the events of September 11, 2001. Such events are so traumatic, that people who were not directly changed and did not personally witness the events were affected by varying degrees of PTSD.

The Dangers of Blunt Head Trauma

Editor — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:04:22 +0000

Head injuries are frightening no matter what type of injury or how it occurs. Blunt trauma, medically speaking, is non-penetrating. However, it only refers to the trauma itself. The fact that a trauma is referred to as non-penetrating does not mean that there are no internal injuries as a result. Blunt trauma to the head is especially troubling to the attending physicians since such an injury can result in very serious damage.

Complications

Blunt head trauma calls for treatment as soon as is possible. Ideally, a first-responder to an accident should attend to any head injuries to avoid complications. Since an impact to the head can cause injury to the neck and spine, the head is often immobilized at the scene before transporting the injured person. Sometimes an airway is inserted in case the neck injury interferes with breathing. Often, the patient is brought to a hospital with neurosurgical specialists in case of injury to the brain.

Once at the hospital, the blunt head trauma patient is examined for bruises on the back or neck, pain in the back or radiating to the arms since these are signs of cervical spine injury. While drowsiness, headache and vomiting are not unusual for the blunt head trauma patient, these are not always a sign of complications unless he or she cannot be awakened easily or the symptoms continue for more than one or two days.

The doctor will examine the head to determine whether the injury is closed, the skull not broken, or open. Diffuse brain injuries cover a large area while focal injuries are those that occur in a specific place.

A blunt head trauma can result in a skull fracture. If there is intracranial hemorrhage or bleeding in the brain, blood can collect and put pressure on the brain. This is called a hematoma and is dangerous since blood in the brain does not easily drain off. Often, some sort of surgery is needed to relieve the pressure. Injury to the brain can occur at the site of the blunt head trauma or at the opposite side of the skull.

This happens when the impact of the trauma causes the brain to move suddenly to the other side of the skull and impact against it. The types of injury that result from blunt head trauma can cause dizziness, confusion, personality change, seizures, drowsiness and intervals of lucidity interspersed with loss of consciousness. Often, following an accident, the first-responders will make sure that there is no blunt head trauma or problem breathing before attending to other injuries.

Symptoms Of A Brain Injury Trauma

Editor — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:41:01 +0000

A brain injury trauma can affect any brain function so there are many different types of symptoms that can show trauma has occurred. However, many symptoms of brain injury trauma are also the symptoms of many other types of circumstances such as migraines or depression and so it can be extremely difficult to ascertain whether brain injury has occurred by simply observing the symptoms. Typical brain injury trauma symptoms can include loss of concentration, memory loss, irritability, fatigue, depression, disturbed sleep, lower libido and slowed thinking.

The symptoms of this type of trauma can be further dealt with and assessed using various testing methods. The severity of brain dysfunctions can be measured using neuropsychological testing where the dysfunction is located to a specific part of the brain. The type of symptom can determine the location of the brain injury trauma as different areas of the brain affect different types of brain functions. Symptoms usually become less severe over time but in some cases the brain cannot adapt to the injury and so the patient develops further problems which can often be of a psychological nature. If the brain injury trauma had not been diagnosed at first then the symptoms can significantly increase in severity.

Treatments Of Brain Injury Traumas

When a brain injury trauma occurs, treatment usually begins at the scene of the accident if paramedics are called or else when the patient arrives at the emergency department of a hospital. The medical teams try to stabilize the patient and prevent any further injuries due to movement. They must ensure that the patient has a proper oxygen supply and work on maintaining blood flow while controlling blood pressure. They also need to check for spinal cord injuries and require the use of neck restraints to protect the patient from any more harm. A neurological examination is performed. X-rays may then be necessary to locate bone fractures and other serious problems caused by the brain injury trauma.

Some patients suffering from brain injury traumas need surgery to treat injuries and then need to go to intensive care afterwards. Ongoing care is generally needed when a brain injury trauma occurs and extensive testing and reevaluation can be necessary. The full effects of a brain injury trauma may not be fully ascertained at first and the long-time effects can only be fully known after a certain amount of time. Some types of trauma can never be fully reversed although there are many medical procedures that can alleviate a lot of the symptoms.

Trauma Symptoms May Be Adaptive

Editor — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:35:28 +0000

A trauma can shake the foundation of one's beliefs regarding safety, as well as shatter assumptions of trust. It is a condition so far removed from what one expects that a traumatic event can provoke reactions that are strange as well as crazy, to say the least. The symptoms of trauma can possibly be adaptive and may originally evolve to help concerned caregivers recognize as well as treat such dangerous situations immediately before it become too late. The symptoms may last a few days or weeks after a disturbing experience and not everyone that experiences a traumatic event will go on to suffer serious traumatic symptoms.

Strongly Subjective Views About Their Experience

People in trauma would be strongly subjective about their experience with unfortunate events, and it is most clearly visible in case of disasters where a wide spectrum of the population becomes exposed to the same (objectively speaking) traumatic experience. Differences in individual temperaments and abilities to cope with stress and disaster will lead to different responses to a given traumatic experience.

The purest meaning of trauma can be that of being exposed to life-threatening experiences. It fits well with phylogenetic roots in the struggle to survive as well as with the involvement of older brain structures in responding to stress as well as terror. Persons who are not directly threatened may show signs of being traumatized by simply being exposed to violations by people or institutions that they depend on or repose their trust in.

Persons who have been betrayed by someone that they have depended on for survival may suffer trauma, and good examples of such instances include sexually abused children as well as war veterans. Such traumatic responses may manifest themselves in psychogenic amnesia and one way to alleviate such a condition would be to forget as well as maintain a posture of confidence to overcome the feelings of betrayal and being let down that a person experiences.

Being exposed to trauma will increase the risk of having post traumatic stress disorder, and chronic or multiple traumatic experiences will become much more difficult to overcome than single instances. To make matters worse, some of the traumatic feelings that a person feels may rub off on those that are helping the traumatized person. Such persons, including psychologists as well as other mental health professionals and emergency workers can find being exposed to an overdose of victim suffering a contagious condition, and thus run the risk of getting secondary traumatization which is also known as compassion fatigue, secondary or vicarious traumatization as well as "burn out". They may thus need to take recourse to stress reduction or stress management to cope with such secondary traumatization.

Guide To Head Trauma Symptom

Editor — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:39:43 +0000

Head trauma is a general term used to describe injuries to the head, which invariably affect the brain as well. There are many types of head traumas and here you will find the most common types, their symptoms and some of the common treatments. One must take extreme care of one's head because it shelters the control to your entire body and that is your brain; if your brain is affected in any way, you can have multiple disorders for life from mild speech impediment to paralysis and coma.

Common Head Traumas

The most common head injuries that can affect the brain are: skull fracture, which usually happens when you fit your head accidentally against a hard object; linear skull fracture occurs usually in babies when they fall accidentally from the bed or crib and the skull breaks on a straight line; depressed skull fracture occurs when a hard object was hit against your head and depending on the seriousness of the injury it may require immediate surgery.

Other common head traumas include: basilar skull fracture, which occurs the base of the skull; subdural hematoma, which occurs when you are experiencing internal bleeding due to some previous injury to the head or many reoccurring injuries together; cerebral contusion, this occurs when the brain is directly injured and almost always requires special intervention and last but not least closed head injuries, where you will have internal bleeding from an injury applied to your head but have no signs of the outside.

Common Head Trauma Symptoms

Common head trauma symptoms will manifest as follows: dizziness, loss of memory, black outs, fainting, nausea, vomiting and headache. Head trauma symptoms will differ from patient to patient depending on the injury and you may experience all or just one of the symptoms described.

Unless you had a serious head injury and are looking for head trauma symptoms, it may be very hard to recognize one without a little help but, if you or anyone in the family suffered a recent accident where hurting the head was involved, it is recommended not to wait for any head trauma symptoms and get a check up as soon as possible. Head trauma symptoms may sometimes appear in the last states when you will be left with little or no much choice of treatment.

Therefore all head injuries must be taken seriously and a check up should be done when serious injuries are encountered directly to your head.

Overcoming trauma

Editor — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:18:09 +0000

There are many thoughts and feelings associated with a traumatic experience, trauma occurs when we are faced with any terrible situation, such as a car accident, fire, witness to an accident, natural disaster, an attack on your person, war, e.t.c. Many people who are recovering from a traumatic experience mentally block out the experience that caused distress while others will relive it time and time again. Trauma can bring many feelings such as

* Shock – shock is a normal reaction to any traumatic experience and the closer you were to the experience the more shock sets in. Your brain has to process the terrible images you have seen and this is when the feelings of shock set in and will take time to digest.
* Disbelief – many people experiencing a shocking situation have strong belief that what they have witnessed cannot possibly have happened.
* Denial – many people deny that the event happened; they try to force it out of their mind.
* Emotional pain – even if you haven't been hurt in the incident you will feel the pain of those around you who did.
* Anger – after shock, anger will set in, you will ask yourself "why has this happened to you" and you can feel anger towards anyone and everyone.
* Blame – we very often blame ourselves or others for what has happened, we may even blame God for letting this happen.
* Sadness – when overcoming a particular traumatic experience you will feel waves of sadness suddenly overwhelming you.
* Depression – for some time after the experience you may suddenly lapse into depression from time to time.
* Anxiety – anxiety often develops from fear and can continue for some time after the experience.

All of the above are the most common feelings and thoughts associated with having gone through trauma; these feelings can come in no particular order and at any time. What you should realize is that these feelings are only natural and are your body and minds way of coping with what happened, the feelings and thoughts will eventually dissipate with time. There are many ways you can cope with them and help yourself to overcome them, the best way for you of course will depend on the severity of the trauma you were exposed to. There are however a number of coping skills which can be learnt in order to help you overcome trauma.

* Taking about what happened and letting it all out
* Listening to and accepting advice from family, friends or counselor
* Accepting what happened and continuing on with life
* Changing your environment
* Taking part in recreational activities
* Picking up your old daily routine
* Taking part in seminars

Advanced Life Support Trauma: The Brainchild Of Dr. James K. Styner

Editor — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:00:54 +0000

Advanced Life Support Trauma is the name of the training program for managing acute trauma cases that may be required to be given in surgical emergency care and was developed in 1976 by the American College of Surgeons. This program has been adopted in more than thirty countries all across the globe and the goal is to teach simple as well as standardized approach to trauma patients.

Ensure All Main Body Functions Are Properly Functioning

There are different steps involved in the Advanced Trauma Life Support program with the first step being ensuring that all body main functions are working correctly, followed by taking care of the patient injuries. This program was the brainchild of Dr. James K. Styner, an orthopedic surgeon from the USA, who while piloting a light aircraft, crashed the plane into a field in Nebraska killing his wife on the spot and three of his four children were critically injured. He found the emergency care provided in this instance to be inadequate as well as inappropriate, which led him to develop a system that would help save lives in medical trauma conditions.

Now, the Advanced Life Support Trauma is published by the American College of Surgeons to enable others to get a framework for managing injured patients. The purpose is to allow a doctor working on his or her own in rural hospitals to make effectual assessment and manage instances of multiple trauma.

Over time, the Advanced Life Support Trauma has found acceptance worldwide and many hospitals and institutions run this course. Every physician as well as surgeon that is involved in managing injured patients should have undergone the Advanced Life Support Trauma course, and these courses are constantly evolving and being tailored to meet current thinking of the day.

Besides the advanced skills imparted through the Advanced Life Support Trauma course, there is also included the one most essential skill that a caregiver or provider must possess and learn, which is Critical Thinking so that he or she will be able to better assess the problem and arrive at the correct life and death decision regarding further course of action.

The Advanced Life Support Trauma course should offer clear protocols to manage major trauma, and is considered, at present, a common international language of trauma care. Front line medical professionals who are often the first to reach and access injured patients need to have had Advanced Life Support Trauma training, and certification in such a course should be a prerequisite for appointment to a post as a senior house officer in accident and emergency situations.

Responsibilities Of A Trauma Nursing Job

Editor — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 05:36:30 +0000

A trauma nursing job requires the nurse to be able to respond quickly and efficiently to a variety of different types of trauma injuries in patients of various ages and backgrounds. They should be able to respond to injuries of any level of severity speedily and with decisiveness. Trauma nursing jobs are available in most hospitals and require the evaluation, assessment and stabilization of patients in the quickest time with the minimal amount of information is present. A requirement of a trauma nursing job is the ability to keep calm in a crisis and perform their duties without letting emotion get in the way of the job.

Many trauma nurses are required to deal with the families of the patients and often need to deal with stress and conflict. This job can be full of pressure and deals with a lot of short-term patient relationships and often trauma nurses come up against many language and cultural barriers. A trauma nursing job often requires a person to be assertive and commanding as they usually have to deal with instant decisions and even give other staff roles in the care of the patient. Trauma nurses need to be up to date in all areas of trauma treatments and also need a lot of experience in various types of care and treatment of a number of different injuries.

Qualifications And Requirements For Trauma Nursing Jobs

Any experienced nurse can apply for a trauma nursing job as long as they have relevant experience and have completed at least the most basic trauma nursing course of which there are many available. Trauma nurses may also be required to frequently update their training in order to keep on top of medical advances and changes to the care and treatment of patients. Completion of a trauma nursing course can lead to a much more concentrated knowledge of the treatment and care of trauma patients.

Trauma nursing jobs require a significant amount of knowledge in pharmacology and the monitoring of trauma patients as well as clinical experience in the treatment and care of trauma and emergency department patients. This knowledge and experience can be garnered through work experience itself but attendance of a course is also important. There are many trauma nursing courses available from core courses to much more advanced types of courses and some of these allow the student to train on the job as well as academically. There are even long distance and home study courses available for trauma nurses which can be handy for a busy working nurse as they can complete the course in their own time while still working and gaining experience in a hospital.

Guide To Psychological Trauma

Editor — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:18:55 +0000

Everything that occurs in our lives has an effect on our brain and nervous system whether it is a happy or sad event; for example, a wedding, which is considered one of the most happy events in one's life, can create a lot of stress. However, psychological traumas are usually referred to sad event and it usually affects the way you think and act.

What Causes Psychological Trauma

Psychological traumas are caused by a large variety of things and here are some examples: a death of someone dear, a medical condition, drug abuse, loosing your job, financial crisis, marital problems and/or physical abuse. Each of these incidents can have a negative effect on your brain and nervous system and can cause you a psychological trauma.

Sometimes even overload of stress can have a negative effect on your mind and can lead to psychological trauma depending on how sensitive a person is and/or how serious the matter is to him or her.

The Symptoms Of Psychological Trauma

Usually people that suffer from a type of psychological trauma will manifest it through it through the classic symptoms of depression, which are, insomnia, withdrawal from socializing or participating in once favorite activities, irritability, change in appetite which will cause sudden weigh loss or gain and mood swigs.

Sometimes your body's own defense system will take over and you will be able to project psychological trauma through anger or by an outburst, which usually will help you deal and get over the whole situation but when you don't then immediate help should be approached from a qualified doctor.

Treating Psychological Trauma

Because it is a state of mind you can never predict how fast one can recover from a psychological trauma; usually the person has to come to terms with reality and then only you can let go of this state of mind. However, with professional help you can actually be on your way to feeling yourself and better sooner then you think.

Depending on the type of trauma you have there are drugs that can boost your moral and energize your body thus, giving you the hope and desire to get over whatever it is and get on with your life. There are also therapies you can attend, individual and groups sessions, which will help greatly because you will meet people who are dealing with the same problems you are.

Psychological traumas are usually intense and it is important to get the person suffering from it involved actively in treating himself or herself and progress will be made sooner then you can imagine; family and friends support during this period of time is critical in order to encourage and love the patient.

Head Trauma In Children: Children Need To Be Supervised Closely

Editor — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:45:56 +0000

Children are often prone to suffer accidents, and to prevent head trauma in children, it is necessary for parents to supervise the children's activities as well as use proper safety equipment, and also take care that the child is not left alone on surfaces where he or she is liable to fall and injure him or herself. It is indeed fortunate that most head injuries that the child suffers are minor, but it is still necessary to get the child treated for head trauma should he or she lose consciousness or have a seizure or becomes lethargic or drowsy or vomits frequently or has double vision or other unusual changes occur.

A Leading Cause Of Death

It is believed that trauma is the leading cause of death in America's children that are above one year in age, and head trauma in children accounts for eighty percent of all injuries. It is believed that in as many as five percent of head trauma in children cases, the patient will die at the site, and head trauma has an attendant high emotional, psychosocial as well as economic impact due to the fact that it entails the patient having to put up with extended stays in hospitals, and it is believed, that as many as five to ten percent of these cases require admission to long-term care facility.

The child's brain is anatomically different to that of an adult and is more susceptible to certain types of injuries following head trauma. Head trauma in children is often accompanied by high mortality rates, and it is believed, that every year as many as five million children sustain head injuries in the United States. It is thus imperative for doctors to ascertain the specific circumstances of episodes of head trauma in children and such information may be sought from the injured child him or herself, whenever possible.

The child should be assessed for memory loss, perseverative questioning, confusion, visual disturbance as well as any symptoms of irritability, altered consciousness, and other disturbing factors. When the child repeatedly asks the same question, it is indicative of a post-traumative memory disturbance of anterograde type.

When a child sustains head injuries leading to head trauma in children, it is necessary that the child be closely observed for 24 hours in a hospital and it may also warrant taking skull x-rays, CT and MRI scans. In some cases, surgery may be required to repair damaged skin or bones or just to relieve pressure from internal hemorrhaging. However, most children will be able to regain normalcy with a couple of days of solid rest, though symptoms may persist for a week or two after. It is advisable for parents to seek help in case they become worried that something is seriously wrong with the child.

Post Stress Trauma Is A Debilitating Condition That Needs To Be Properly Addressed

Editor — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 05:34:50 +0000

Post stress trauma is a debilitating condition that can be consequent to a physical or emotional event that has terrified the patient. It has often been noticed in war veterans though it can be caused by any traumatic event that the patient has witnessed, have had it happen to them or has affected a friend or close family member. There are different such instances which include physical abuse, sexual abuse, sexual molestation, ritual abuse, family violence, dating violence, kidnapping or abduction as well as serious accidents, and much more.

Children Are More Likely To Be Affected

There are one million children that suffer abuse every year and they are most likely to be affected by post stress trauma, and it can also be evidenced in those that have had other previous traumatic experiences. Some of the risk factors associated with post stress trauma include type of trauma, severity of trauma, and duration of the event, recurrence of the event as well as the individual's own resilience and coping skills, and support available from family, friends as well as community.

Post stress trauma may occur at all ages and includes childhood and it may be accompanied by depression, substance abuse, anxiety as well as self-injurious behavior. The symptoms may be mild in nature or severe, though mostly they seem worse in cases where the traumatic event was initiated by a person rather than because of natural disorders taking place.

However, not every person traumatized person will suffer from post stress trauma though they may experience some form of it in the days and weeks following their traumatic experience, and their symptoms generally disappear with time. For one to be suffering post stress trauma there are certain conditions that must be present in the patient and they include persistent frightening thoughts, flashbacks, avoiding people, places as well as situations associated with the event, emotional numbness, nightmares, problems getting to sleep, depression, physical problems, and a lot more.

Family as well as friends should give support to the patient and this would help them get over some of the post stress trauma, even though, in some cases, the post stress trauma does not show up until months or even years after the traumatic event. Early detection, intervention as well as mental health treatment can go a long way in getting the patient to recover and in such cases; the parents can also play a pivotal role to help the patient get over post stress trauma.

The Tragedy of Spinal Chord Trauma

Editor — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 19:17:15 +0000

Together with the brain, the spinal chord constitutes the central nervous system of the body. Only about 18 inches long, it stretches from the base of the brain about to the waist. It contains the nerves that convey messages from the brain to the spinal nerves along the spinal tract and back again. The nerves that branch off the spinal chord exit and enter at each vertebra, traveling to other parts of the body. A spinal cord trauma affects every area of the body from the point of injury down.

The Magic Chord

The spinal chord carries orders from the brain to the part of the body that will carry them out. An order to scratch an itch, tap a foot or cross a knee all travel along the spinal chord. Messages that travel to the brain include the sensations felt in every part of the body. That itch, the tickle the cold of a draft all travel from the various parts of the body to the chord and up to the brain.

When a spinal cord trauma occurs, the spinal chord does not have to be severed to be damaged. Also, the back or neck can be seriously injured without damaging the spinal chord. It is separate from the skeletal system and is part of the neurological system. When a spinal cord trauma results in a complete injury, there will be no function below the level of the injury. Complete injuries always affect both sides of the body equally.

All voluntary movement and physical sensation become impossible below the level of the injury. An incomplete injury is anything less than that. There may be sensation but no movement, one side of the body may be more affected than the other or the sensation may be more present on one side than the other.

The location of the injury caused by the spinal cord trauma is important. The location is described by the vertebra that is closest to the injury. Overall, the spine is divided into four main regions describing the parts of the body that are affected by the nerves at that level. The cervical region is at the top of the spine nearest the neck.

A cervical spinal cord trauma can result in complete paralysis. Above the third vertebra, a complete injury will result in diaphragm failure and require a ventilator to breathe. The thoracic, lumbar and sacral regions affect parts of the body respectively lower. While science is optimistic about future treatment for spinal cord trauma injuries, there is no way to heal them today.

Causes And Risks Of Head Pediatric Trauma

Editor — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 10:39:02 +0000

There are many different causes of head pediatric trauma and the risks of such a trauma tend to depend on the age and background of the child. The most likely causes of head pediatric trauma in infants and toddlers are accidental head injuries due to falling and similar accidents or physical abuse of the child such as a blow to the head or violence that leads to the child falling heavily against another object. As a child's age increases, the causes of head pediatric trauma can more often include accidents such as car crashes.

Because children's brains are softer and the surrounding skull may not yet be fully developed, head pediatric trauma can be riskier and more severe than the occurrence of head trauma in adults although the recovery time for a child is longer. Head pediatric trauma tends to be a big cause of death in children depending on the severity of the injury. Careless activities and leaving small children unattended can increase the risks of head pediatric trauma in infants and toddlers. The most serious types of head pediatric trauma are often caused by circumstances such as child abuse and car accidents.

Treatment Of Head Pediatric Trauma

Head pediatric trauma can often cause or lead to the death of a child. Many deaths of children occur because of blows to the head in a lot of circumstances. Head trauma can however, be relatively minor and treatment is available for all types of head pediatric trauma making recovery a likely outcome for a lot of cases. The effects of head trauma on a child differ to that of an adult's case and therefore the treatment and recovery is entirely different in both cases. Head trauma can lead to comas and serious problems with brain activity and these can be difficult to address in a lot of cases. Delay in treatment can adversely affect the outcome of the situation.

Children react to severe head trauma in extremely different ways to adults and so extra care may be needed. Constant examination can be necessary due to the difference in structure of a child's body and the reaction times to shock and trauma. Frequent reassessment is needed in order to fully ascertain the extent of the injuries. The normal signs of shock and internal injury may not be fully obvious in a child and extra care must be taken. Keeping the child awake can be extremely important. Fortunately children tend to heal over a longer period of time than an adult so even a serious head injury can be treatable over time.

Symptoms Of Dental Trauma

Editor — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 17:37:16 +0000

Dental trauma is injury to any part of the mouth area including teeth, gums, tongue, jaw and lips. The most common dental injury is broken teeth or even knocked out teeth. These traumas can be caused by accidents, fights, scalding liquids and sports. The symptoms of dental trauma depend entirely on the type of injury that has occurred. Cuts and burns can lead to painful swelling and sometimes bleeding. Sometimes broken teeth can lead to toothaches while a knocked out tooth can leave the gums swollen and bloody. Problems with the jawbone tend to be more serious and can sometimes lead to a misaligned jaw.

Anyone who has suffered from dental trauma should visit a dentist as soon as possible to ascertain the effect of the trauma and the subsequent treatment that is needed. A dentist uses x-rays on the mouth to find out the total extent of the damage caused by the dental trauma. This can be easier for the patient than a full physical examination at first due to the pain that can come from dental injury. The sooner the treatment begins the better in most cases of this trauma as it can avoid more serious long-term effects. Dental trauma can be extremely painful in a lot of cases and the patient may need some type of anesthetic before any treatment can begin.

Treatment For Dental Trauma

Different types of dental trauma require different treatments. For soft tissue injuries such as cuts and swelling, cold compresses can be used to reduce the swelling and the bleeding can be eased by putting pressure on the laceration. Sometimes stitches are required although with a lot of lip injuries, the lip has to be left to heal naturally. Painkillers can help with the pain. Broken teeth require the mouth to be rinsed out in order to clean the area. The sooner a dentist is visited, the greater the chance of saving the tooth. Dentists often advise people to hold on to the tooth or any broken bit after dental trauma, keeping them moist is essential. When the entire tooth has been knocked out, it is important to hold it by the crown rather than the root. After such a trauma, the dentist will try to save all of the teeth, although this is not always possible and sometimes an artificial crown or tooth is needed.

Dental trauma that leads to a broken jaw requires the jaw to be set back into its rightful position and may need wires to hold it into place. The healing process can take up to six weeks for this type of injury. It is important to see the dentist as soon as possible when the jaw has been broken as delays in treatment can result in a much longer and more painful recovery time. With any dental trauma, infections can easily set in and it is important to continue to take good care of the injured area and avoid further damage. Most dental traumas can be easily treated and heal in time as long as proper care is taken of the area.

Despite Modern Medicine, Head Trauma Continues To Be A Problem Area

Editor — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:33:04 +0000

Of enormous public health concern is the traumatic brain injury that in spite of all the different modern medicines available in the 21st century continues to be a problem area. The majority of patients with head trauma can be classified as having mild head injuries while the rest may have severe to moderate injuries. Society has to pay a staggering cost – both in economic as well as emotional terms – and almost all those that have suffered severe head injuries, and the great majority (two-thirds) of those with moderate injuries may become permanently disabled and would be unable to return to their premorbid level of functioning.

US Spends 25 Billion Dollars In Head Trauma Care

The US pays an estimated over US$25 billion to take care of head trauma costs and this figure does not include inpatient care, and the impact is far greater when one considers that most severe head injuries occur in adolescents as well as young adults. Furthermore, the US with a population of approximately 300 million, has about 600,000 new head trauma cases per year with ten percent of these cases being fatal and causes 550,000 people to be hospitalized each year with head injuries.

Though head trauma does affect the head, it may not always cause damage to the brain and is a common cause of childhood hospitalization. The most common cause of head injuries is traffic accidents, home as well as occupational accidents, falls as well as assaults. The incidence of bicycle accidents causing head-injury-related deaths and disability is also very common among children.

Head injuries can affect both the brain as well as other parts of the head including the scalp and skull, and they may be closed or open. The closed or non-missile head injury is one that does not cause the skull to be broken. The penetrating head injury happens when an object will pierce the skull and also breach the dura mater. In fact, epidural hematoma in which there is rapid accumulation of hematoma between the dura mater and the cranium will see many such patients having head trauma that entails loss of consciousness, followed by lucid periods and then loss of consciousness, once again.

Some patients with head trauma can stabilize while the condition of others may deteriorate. It is usual for patients with head trauma to have drowsiness, but they can be easily aroused and they also suffer headaches, and vomit after injury. In addition, head trauma patients that become unconscious for an hour or more have twice the risk to develop Alzheimer's disease later on in life

What Is Trauma Counseling?

Editor — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 22:30:31 +0000

After any kind of traumatic event, adults and children alike can find it hard to cope with the aftermaths of the situation. A traumatic event can be anything from a car crash to a natural disaster but can lead to difficulty moving on and victims can even experience flashbacks and anxiety attacks while children are susceptible to regression during these extremely difficult times. Trauma counseling is a way in which to confront the fears and memories of a traumatic event and lead to the victim overcoming their loss and anxiety about the situation. Trauma counseling should be available for anyone who has suffered through a traumatic event.

Trauma counseling involves a one on one or group therapy session in order to help the victim express themselves fully about what their fears and struggles are after a serious event occurs. They can talk to the counselor about their feelings, anxieties and symptoms of trauma. For some, the ability just to talk to someone about what happened can be of enormous help to them. For others, trauma counseling is needed in order to evaluate their feelings of loss and fear and how to move on from the trauma of the event. People can find it difficult to accept bad situations and worry about the situation reoccurring and trauma counseling can help them put it into perspective and speed up the healing process.

Is Trauma Counseling Necessary?

A traumatic event can bring up many kinds of feelings and a lot of people need something to get them through it. Although trauma counseling is not for everyone, many people find it to be beneficial. In an event where a group of survivors need trauma counseling, a group session can be very advantageous because it is letting all of the people in the same situation to discuss their feelings and help each other get through the grief and fear. They may feel relief from the fact that other people are going through the exact same thing as them and find that they get over the event or loss with the help of the rest of the group.

Trauma counseling can help both adults and children who all react in different and individual ways to a traumatic event. Survivors of such an event can have feelings of guilt at surviving when others didn't and often feel like they could have done something differently to help but trauma counseling works on the specific fears of each person and works at enabling people to release their emotions and feelings on the subject. It can be hard for a lot of people to talk about a significant trauma in their lives and trauma counseling aims to help people focus their energies on moving on and healing themselves. For a lot of people it is a necessary part of the process.

Blunt Abdominal Trauma Is Physical Trauma Targeting Body Parts

Editor — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 22:52:01 +0000

Blunt abdominal trauma is, in medical terminology, referred to as a type of physical trauma that targets a body part either through injury, impact or physical attack – with the latter being thought of as being blunt force trauma. In general, the term is used to refer to a precursory trauma that can be the starting point for the development of more specific kinds of trauma that include contusions, abrasions, and lacerations as well as bone fracturing.

A Very Common Type Of Trauma

Blunt abdominal trauma is very often thought of as being a very common type of trauma that may represent as many as fifty to seventy-five percent of blunt traumas incurred. It most often is attributed to car-to-car collisions wherein rapid deceleration will cause the driver to be propelled into the steering wheel or dashboard, and thus causes ruptures to the internal organs because of transiently increasing intraluminal pressure that occurs in the most severe of cases while contusions occur in less serious instances where the speed or forward force was not of great magnitude.

The blunt abdominal trauma that is a result of deceleration and impact can be quite similar to trauma affecting any other part of the body such as rupturing or damage of free as well as relatively fixed objects that is characterized by an instance of hepatic tear along the ligamentum teres, followed with injuries to the renal arteries.

Blunt abdominal trauma may also, in many cases, cause further injury and is dependent on how severe was the accident, and mostly the liver and spleen will be prone to be most damaged, and to a lesser degree, the small intestine. Though blunt abdominal trauma is a condition in itself, to diagnose it, doctors need to ascertain what caused the accident as well as other injuries as well as their correlation with the medical, dietary as well as physiological history of the patient so that a swift recovery path may be established.

Treating blunt abdominal trauma will necessitate that there is no further bleeding, internal or back injury as well as absence of breathing problems prior to administering any rehabilitative care. For patients that were victims of car accidents or in case of accelerated impact, there is a great likelihood that there will be progressive damage to internal organs as well, and most often, intravenous therapy may be required.

Severe Brain Trauma: Patients May Look Normal But May Act Abnormally

Editor — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 19:17:09 +0000

No two individuals are the same and nor are any two brain injuries the same. There are, in fact, many different types of injuries that can affect the brain which depends to a great deal on the type as well as amount of force that impacted the head. Severe brain trauma occurs when an outside force impacts the head with sufficient force to cause the brain to move within the skull or may cause the skull to break and directly hurts the brain. The brain will have been insulted and it is not degenerative or congenital by nature but severe brain trauma is a result of an external physical force that can diminish or alter the sate of consciousness of the patient.

Consequences Of Severe Brain Injury

The altered state of consciousness will cause impairment of cognitive abilities as well as impact physical functioning in the patient, and may also result in disturbing the behavior or emotional functioning in them. Such impairments may be temporary or permanent and could be partial or complete loss of function, or even psychosocial maladjustment.

A person suffering severe brain trauma should be examined immediately by a physician or go into emergency if the condition so warrants it. The brain may be the recipient of several different types of injuries which may affect different functions within the brain as well as various areas of the brain. The different types of brain injuries include diffuse axonal, concussion, contusion, coup-contrecoup, and second-impact syndrome as also penetration injury.

Severe brain trauma occurs when there is a prolonged unconscious state or coma that lasts for days on end, weeks or even months. In the case of coma, the patient is unable to be awakened from a state of unconsciousness. It is believed that each year as many as 700,000 people suffer severe brain traumatic injuries in North America, and almost one tenth of them are permanently disabled.

Severe brain trauma can be seen to affect a person when there is loss of consciousness in that person or a confused state that is characterized by uncertainty about time, date as well as location, and there may also be a loss of memory for the events surrounding the head injury.

The physical as well as behavioral effects of severe brain trauma pose a significant challenge to doctors for them to affect the patient's rehabilitation as well as restoring cognitive abilities which often concern caregivers, family members as well as prospective employers the most. The patient of severe brain trauma may look normal but may be unable to act normally, appropriately or be able to remember instructions well.

Bone Fractures And Skeletal Trauma

Editor — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 18:28:07 +0000

After a serious accident, the diagnosis of skeletal trauma in the form of a bone fracture may seem like the "good news" but bone fractures come in many shapes and sizes. Whether recovery will be easy or difficult depends on many factors, not the least of which is the type and location of the skeletal trauma.

When, Where, How

A bone is considered fractured if it becomes cracked, splintered or bisected as a result of a skeletal trauma or a medical condition that caused weakening in the bones. If the bone were completely severed, it would be a broken bone. A doctor is first concerned with whether the fractured bone has also broken the skin. If not, it is a closed fracture. If so, it is an open or compound fracture. Broken skin can allow infection to penetrate the bone fracture and carry an elevated risk of infection. An open fracture requires immediate surgical treatment that involves removal of dirt and debris as well as any dead tissue. If the diagnosis is simple fracture, then the fracture has occurred along one line, leaving the bone in two pieces. The alternative is a multi-fragmentary fracture. If displacement – a fracture gap – has occurred, the bone may need to be manipulated back into shape and might require surgery to correct. A fracture of the vertebra might be a compression fracture and can be caused by osteoporosis rather than a skeletal trauma.

A fracture in which the bone separates completely is a complete fracture while an incomplete fracture is one in which they are partly joined. The angle at which the fracture occurs is an important consideration in its treatment. If the break is parallel to the long axis of the bone then it is linear. If the break is at a right angle to the axis, it is transverse and any diagonal fracture is oblique. If a skeletal trauma causes a fracture that goes around the bone, it is a spiral fracture. A fracture that causes many fragments is called comminuted or "multi-fragmentary" and if the fragments have been driven into one another, it is an impacted fracture. When treating a skeletal trauma, the classification system for a bone fracture includes identifying the affected bone, the location of the fracture on the bone, the type of fracture (simple, multi-fragmentary, etc.), the group (transverse, oblique, spiral, etc,) and the subgroup which describes how the bone is displaced. A skeletal trauma can take a fraction of a second to occur, but the long-term treatment depends on an intense analysis of the damage.