Case Study: Lost in the Desert

Case Study 2: Lost in the Desert!

Question 1. Given the conditions, what should Henry do to try to save Mark? He must decide very quickly. Mark has very little time left and may not survive the trip by helicopter to the hospital. What has caused Mark’s weakness, nausea, disorientation, headache, and low blood pressure? Why isn’t he sweating?

Henry can do two things to immediately help Mark and his current physical condition. First, Henry should put clothing on Mark. Although Mark may feel very hot, his skin has already been exposed to the intense UV sunrays for an extended period of time. Continual exposure to these rays will worsen the severity of Mark’s sunburns. Henry should also start administering Mark diluted fluids that contain essential electrolytes, which to help restore hydration to Mark’s body without running the risk of his plasma becoming hypotonic from water intoxication. Mark has lost a lot of water through sweat and this combined with the intense heat of the sun has caused Mark to have heat stroke. The heat stroke and profound water loss is causing Mark to feel weak, nauseous, disoriented, have low blood pressure, and a headache. Water loss will especially have a large effect on Mark’s physical state because it will directly affect the blood pressure in his blood vessels due to water leaving the cells. Extreme water loss is also evident due to Mark’s lack of visible sweat. Hyperthermia has caused Mark’s heat loss process to become ineffective. In the extreme heat conditions, the heat stroke causes the skin to become hot and dry. Mark’s dehydration and heat stroke made it so that his body cannot produce sweat (4).

Question 2. Why didn’t the paramedic give Mark bottled water or distilled water rather than an electrolyte/glucose solution and what is an isotonic solution?

In isotonic solutions, cells will be able to maintain their shape and size. This is due to the ability of water to move into and out of the cell when in this environment because...