Night Nine

We got to cram airways into throats! It was awesome! I like it. I'd be terrified of trying that on a real person, but on a mannequin it's super fun. Technically you aren't supposed to be gentle with a real patient either seeing as you're trying to give them air, not be delicate. So as long as you don't cause real damage...go for it, apparently. I like this edict. Hehehe.

So we got to insert Combi-tube and King airways, which was a bit easier than I expected. So much so that I accidentally intubated my dummy the first time. -cough- But the second and third times I did it right.

ALSO. Guess what this is?

That's right.

That's my grade on the first test.

90% ^^

And we got two extra "gimme" questions because his explanations in class didn't coincide with the questions on the test (Cap refill, most of us chose 3sec and it's supposed to be 2sec - Pupil Reactivity, we were told we could use a light, have them open and close their eyes, or look up at the lights above if we didn't have a light so we chose all of the above which was wrong in the book), so "technically" I only missed 9. So I got 101/110 which divides to a 92%

SWEET.

I have another test tonight, on respiratory stuff and airways. I'm really confident about that.

Today's Lesson
Respiratory System

So what's in a respiratory system? Well, a few things. Let's take a look. All aboard the magic school bus.


We have the Nasopharynx - the nose
The Oralpharynx - the mouth
The Epiglottis - The flap of skin that covers the larynx to keep food from entering
The Larynx, which I misspelled on the picture and don't care enough to fix, which you breathe through.
The Trachea - Those hard Cs in the front of your throat. They keep your throat from being crushed by a bit of pressure. This is good. They also move if you swallow, also good.
Esophagus - The thing you swallow food through
Bronchi - The tubes that diverge and split into the lungs.
Lungs - Two of these, too.
Alveoli - The teeny tiny things at the end of the bronchioles. What do they do? Hell if I know. I'll look in a moment, I'm busy.
Diaphragm - the muscle under the lungs. It's used mostly for singing, it moves down as you breathe in and up as you breathe out. It's also known as your solar plexus. While checking to see where it is, don't smack yourself. It hurts.

OH RIGHT. The Alveoli are teensy tinsy sacs that do the air transfer - oxygen for carbon dioxide.

So now you know. I've also listed them in the order that air technically moves. The air goes down to the Alveolis and then is transferred and goes about oxygenating blood and all while the carbon dioxide heads back out.

Also, all oxygen tanks have between 2000 and 2200 PSI. And if they get down to 500 you're supposed to switch to a new tank. You can get about 23min out of a fully active 15Liter-flow tank. Or something like that.

Adequate breathing means your chest is rising evenly and you aren't blue. Inadequate is usually fairly obvious.

Only perform a jaw-thrust on a patient you believe has a compromised cervical spine (the first 7 vertebrae in the neck).

Room air is 21% oxygen.

No air = You die. Probably because your heart stops. We don't like that.


Side note, a kid in a football camp today totally broke his leg. I really wanted to go over but seeing as I ... well, don't know how to splint and don't have a cert I couldn't do anything. But I still totally wanted in on the action. I sat sadly at the window at work and gazed at the ambulance.

I cannot wait for clinicals.