Firefighters respond to a variety of a calls every day, these include (but are not limited to): fire-related, medical, MVCs and HazMat. Response statistics from Toronto Fire Service’s 2011 annual report show that while fire-related calls have been relatively stagnant throughout the last 7 years, medical calls have been significantly increasing (table 1; figure 1). Heart disease and stroke account for roughly 350,000 hospitalizations per year in Canada and first responses to related illnesses and symptoms will undoubtedly be common (Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, 2014). Myocardial Infarction (often referred to as a heart attack) is a common cardiac condition that firefighters will encounter in their career. This paper will discuss Myocardial Infarctions in greater detail than the first responder level and explore what the conditions is at the greater health-care provider level.
A myocardial infarction occurs when blood supply to the heart is limited or stopped because of blockage in a coronary artery. Narrowing of coronary arteries as a result of artherosclerotic plaque buildup “causes more than 90% of heart attacks” (Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, 2011). As plaque builds up in the arteries, there is an increased chance that the plaque will rupture and cause a bleed that, subsequently, clots (thrombus). Ischemia (reduced blood flow to tissues) to the tissue the coronary artery supplies with become damaged and, with long enough occlusion, die (American Heart Association, 2012).
Signs and Symptoms
Most myocardial infarctions begin with mild pain or discomfort in the chest. Those suffering often aren't sure what's wrong and wait too long before getting help (American Heart Association, 2012). It is impera...
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...ete occlusion of the vessel and results in greater tissue death. The damage in a transmural MI will generally extend much deeper into the muscle tissue (Heuther and McCance, 2012).
In the event of a myocardial infarction, there is an extreme inflammatory response once the heart begins to repair itself. The necrotic tissue is broken down by enzymes and transported to other parts of the body to be disposed of (Heuther and McCance, 2012). The scar tissue that initially replaces the necrotic tissue is weak and, as a result, it will take the patient a few weeks until they feel as if they can return to low levels of activity. After about six weeks, the necrotic tissue has been completely replaced by scar tissue. However, since the scar tissue cannot contract and relax as cardiac muscle does, it will result in permanent dysfunction (Huether and McCance, 2012).
The primary concern for Mr. Miller would be preventing further ischemia and necrosis of the myocardial tissues, preventing serious complications such as cardiac dysrhythmias and heart failure, as well as relieving his chest pain that radiates to his left arm. Preventing further ischemia and necrosis of the myocardial tissue will help prevent the development of heart failure due to myocardial infarction, whereas relieving his pain will help reduce his episodes of shortness of breath, and will also help to reduce any anxiety and restlessness he may be having from being in pain and short of breath.
Heart disease is one of the most common causes of the mortality and morbidity in most well developed countries. They come in different forms such as stroke and other cardiovascular diseases and it’s the number one cause of death in the state of America. In the year 2011 alone nearly 787,000 people were killed as a result of this epidemic. And this included Hispanic, Africans, whites and Americans. As for the Asian Americans or pacific Islanders, American Indians and the natives of Alaska, the concept to them was a second only to cancer. However, statistics has proved that a person gets heart attack every 34 seconds and in every 60 seconds, someone dies out of it which include other related event. Additionally, majority of the women are the
The American Heart Association gives sufficient evidence for the need of change by acknowledging that sudden cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death (2012). These fatalities affect both adult and child victims. Statistics also show that 70% of people feel helpless during a cardia...
The conclusion the author made was that the study showed that undulated training was the way to go for firefighters who need the multidimensional muscular and performance training in order to succeed at their job. Undulated training, in this sense, had greater potential. In 2000, the NFPA created a new firefighting ordinance that created health and physical fitness requirements that firefighters had to pass in order to be cleared to perform their jobs. This was to motivate firefighters to perform the best they could in order to succeed, including improving firefighter health by helping them avoid serious injury or disease and improve their performance in order to succeed at their job.
In 1973, one of the most influential reports to ever come out of the fire service was created. This report would change the fire service forever and still to this day have a great impact on the way things are done in the fire service. One of the most impacted sectors within the fire service is the way firefighters perceive and implement fire prevention strategies and techniques. This report was called “America Burning” and was published by the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control. The report was sent directly to the president of the United States of America, who at the current time was Richard
Skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscles play a vital role in the everyday processes that allow the human body to function. Without these muscles, everyday tasks and functions could not be conducted. Injury to these muscles could cause serious problems, however, these muscles have the ability to regenerate, repair, and fix multiple problems all by themselves. Repair and regeneration of a muscle are two similar, yet different things. Repair restores muscle continuity so that it can continue to function in the same way as before injury, but does not completely restore the pre-injury structure like regeneration (Huijbregts, 2001). Muscle repair and regeneration take place after an injury, after surgery, after atrophy, and even after working out.
Mental health in the fire service is an upcoming problem, but has been occurring for years without firefighters even knowing it. Specifically post-traumatic stress disorder known as PTSD and firefighter suicides are the main issues that have a large impact in the fire service. This outline will lay out the main points that are a result, impact, or other subjects in relation to the two main issues above. Firefighter deaths are rising rapidly, members of the fire service need to be educated on PTSD and suicide to provide treatment before another devastating event occurs in result of the issues effects.
This assignment is a case study that aims to explore the biospychosocial impacts of a myocardial infarction on a service user. It will focus on the interventions used by healthcare professionals throughout the patient’s journey to recovery. To abide by the NMC’s code of conduct (2015) which states that all nurses owe a duty of confidentiality to all those who are receiving care, the service user used in this case study will be referred to as Julie. Julie is a 67 year old lady who was rushed to her local accident and emergency following an episode of acute chest pain and was suspected to have suffered from a myocardial infarction. Julie who lives alone reported she had been experiencing shortness of breath and
Firefighters are more than friends. You can't fight fires with friends. To fight fires you need a brotherhood. The men and women of the fire service across the globe consider each other family, this is one of the grand traditions of the fire department. Firefighters are constantly looking out for one another, thinking about the things they do and how it may affect the other’s lives and safety. Life safety is of the highest priority in the business of fire rescue. To achieve a safety standard there are many tasks that fire personnel are expected to carry out, for both a personal and a team related purpose. One of these tasks is the daily inspection of the fire apparatus upon arrival to the fire station. This task is with most certainty the most essential process that fire personnel are responsible for in order to get through the shift safely and efficiently.
Coronary heart disease is defined by the hardening of the epicardial coronary arteries. The buildup of plaque in the arteries slowly narrows the coronary artery lumen. In order to better understand the physiology of the disease, it is important to first know the basic anatomy of the human heart. The aorta, located in the superior region of the heart, branches off into two main coronary blood vessels, otherwise known as arteries. The arteries are located on the left and right side of the heart and span its surface. They subsequently branch off into smaller arteries which supply oxygen-rich blood to the entire heart (Texas Heart Institute, 2013). Therefore, the narrowing of these arteries due to plaque buildup significantly impairs blood flow throughout the heart.
The term, ischemia, denotes inadequate blood supply to tissues due to blockage of the arterial inflow, while, reperfusion injury is defined as the injury caused by the restitution of blood flow after an ischemic peroid, leading to death of cells that were only reversibly injured at the time of blood flow restitution. [63]. The final infarct size after an MI event is therefore the result of the ischemic and reperfusion damage. For this reason, the term that best describes this process of myocyte death in reperfused MI is myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury [64]. In the early hours post myocardial ischemia, injured cardiac cells can release several molecules, including adenosine, opioids, and bradykinin, which activate the G protein signaling pathways therefore promoting myocardial survival. While in the late phase, myocardial ischemia induces upregulation of growth factors and cytokines, including VEGF, ILGF and SDF-1, in the injured myocardium, hence promoting a cardio-protective state. The liver also participates in cardioprotection through the up regulation and release of secretory proteins, including FGF21 and TFF3, which also promote cardiomyocyte survival. [65]. Foundational studies performed about three decades ago with animal models demonstrated that an early reperfusion was able to limit infarct size [66]. Then fibrinolysis was indisputably associated with a decrease in mortality in patients with STEMI [67].A decade later; primary angioplasty was shown to be more superior than fibrinolysis [68]. Currently primary coronary angioplasty (PCI) has been established as the backbone treatment for STEMI patients. The period from the onset of symptoms of MI (representative of the time of coronary occlusion) and reperfusio...
Coronary artery disease develops when your coronary arteries the major blood vessels that supply your heart with blood, oxygen and nutrients become damaged or diseased. Cholesterol containing deposits or plaque on your arteries are usually to blame for coronary artery disease. When plaques build up, they narrow your coronary arteries, causing your heart to receive less blood. Eventually, the decreased blood flow may cause chest pain, shortness of breath, or other coronary artery disease signs and symptoms. A complete blockage can cause a heart attack.
One of the leading causes of death in the United States is heart disease. “Approximately every 29 seconds one American will have a heart attack, and once a minute one American will die from a heart attack” (Ford-Martin and Odle, 915). According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine men over the age of 45 and women over the age of 55 are considered at risk for heart disease. Heart disease is a major cause of death. It is beneficial to individuals who seek to prevent heart disease to recognize the risks leading to heart attacks as they are one of the primary indications of developing heart disease; especially those that fall into the at risk age groups. These risks consist of some that cannot be changed such as heredity risks, or those that can change such as smoking habits. It is very important to know these specific risks for prevention and to understand the symptoms of heart attacks, such as sweating or the feeling of weakness so if these or other symptoms occur people are aware. Finally heart disease treatment is of vital importance if you experience a heart attack so you can learn how to prevent another one from occurring.
Oxygen was first admitted to the client with chest pain over 100 years ago (Metcalfe, 2011). Chest pain is a large bracket that can contain many different conditions, but for the purpose of this analysis it is focused manly upon a myocardial infarction. A myocardial infarction is mainly referred to as a heart attack, and occurs when one or more coronary arteries leading to the heart reduce or completely stop blood flow (Tuipulotu, 2013 ). Administering high concentrations of oxygen to patients with chest pain is now embedded in guidelines, protocols and care pathways, even with a lack of clear supporting evidence (Nicholson, 2004 ). High concentration of oxygen means that up to 60% is administered (Knott, 2012). More recent research has suggested that the use of oxygen in this scenario is unnecessary and can lead to unwanted side effects, especially in normoxic cardiac patients (Moradkham & Sinoway, 2010 ). The aim of this comparative analysis is to dismantle and understand both the benefits and risks of the commonly known practice of administration of oxygen to the client with chest pain. Through completing this analysis using recent and appropriate evidence a more improved practice can be given and understood.
I. Imagine your father has just suffered a heart attack and must undergo open-heart surgery in order to repair the damage.