Arm Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.
These are the MediaLab courses that cover Arm and links to relevant pages within the course.
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| How to Perform the Heimlich Maneuver Stand behind the victim, and wrap your arms around her waist. Grasp your fist with your other hand.Make a fist with one of your hands, and place the thumb side of your fist against the middle of the victim's abdomen, slightly above the navel and well below ribs and breastbone.Grab your fist with your other hand.Press your fist into the victim's abdomen with a quick upward thrust and repeat until the obstructing object is dislodged. | View Page |
| The early symptoms of anthrax include: | View Page |
| Agent: Botulism (bacterium) Most likely means of dissemination: Aerosol (eating contaminated food)Primary route of entry: Inhalation (oral)General signs and symptoms: Difficulty with speaking, swallowing, or blurred or double vision, drooping eyelids (ptosis), dilated pupils, dry mouth, decreased gag reflex, weakening of the reflexes (hyporeflexia), abnormal sensations such as numbness, prickling, tingling, and arm or leg weakness.Botulism is caused by a neurotoxin and technically could be classified as a chemical WMD. For our discussion it is placed under biological agents because the toxin is derived from a bacterium. Botulism is potentially life-threatening, producing a characteristic clinical picture of muscular paralysis leading to respiratory failure. Photo courtesy of the CDC archives. | View Page |
| Direct Error Detection
Even perfect systems designs cannot avert human limitations. Medical errors occur and they have to be detected before they can be resolved.
Sometimes people directly observe and immediately report these mistakes. | View Page |
| Discussion A phlebotomist should never use an arm with restricted usage for the venipuncture. Even if no sign is posted, the patient may tell you not to use a particular arm for various reasons, i.e. previous mastectomy, history of phlebitis, active AV fistula, etc. Do not draw blood above an IV line. If blood is taken from a vein above an IV line it might be diluted by the IV fluid, which could cause incorrect test results. In this case, Bobby should choose a vein on the dorsum of Mrs. Grayson’s hand, below the IV. A butterfly needle would facilitate drawing blood from these small hand veins.Relevant topics:Alternate sites, Sites to avoid, Signs, Arms to avoid
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| Sites to avoid Avoid the following sites:Scarred, abraded, or inflamed skin.Arms containing IV catheters.Edematous armsArms with casts. | View Page |
| Arms to avoid In general, do not collect blood from:Arms on the same side as a previous mastectomy.Arms with phlebitis or infection.Arms with a vascular shunt.
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| Blood should not be drawn from arms with IVs Blood drawn from veins with intravenous lines (IVs) may be diluted by the IV fluids. Arms containing IVs should therefore not be used to draw blood specimens.
If an arm with an IV line in place must be used for venipuncture, be sure to choose a site below the location of the IV, so that the specimen will not be diluted with IV fluids. | View Page |