Emergency Medical Technician Essay

Over the course of our life span our bodies are constantly growing and changing. As “EMTs we must be aware of the physical changes a person undergoes at various stages of life”(Call Jones & Bartlett Learning). Being aware of the physical changes will affect how us as emergency medical technician will respond and treat the patient. Outside of responding to a love one or friend and pediatric patients, I feel that responding to the older population will be dificult because they are defined as being 61 years and older, and currently the life expectancy is flip flopping but the average age is about 78 with the maximum of 120 years old. It is critical to keep in mind when treating these individuals of their overall health, medical conditions, and

The second biggest threat for illness or injury in late adults is their respiratory system, because their respiratory system changes in that the “size of their airway increases, surface area of alveoli decreases, natural elasticity of the lings decreases, intercostal muscles are used more to breathe, and breathing becomes more labor intensive, aspiration and obstruction becomes more likely. By age 75 years, vital capacity may amount to only 50% of a young adult’s vital capacity”( Jones & Bartlett Learning). Another important system is the endocrine system where, “insulin production drops off, metabolism decreases, people tend to slow down their physical activity but do not decrease their food intake” (Jones & Bartlett Learning). All three of these systems are critical to note when treating a patient because as some people age they decrease their activity level or might even stop leading to cardiovascular complications, respiratory complications and endocrine