It was 5:00 PM on a hot summer afternoon. Eight-year-old Jim Morris, wading in the warm current off Florida’s Gulf Coast, swam easily toward his sister Amy and his uncle Robert. But the kids’ fun in the shoulder-deep water was cut short by Jim’s shouts of “Get it off mel Get it off mel” Amy’s screams sliced through the peacefully rolling breakers like a knife, “Help! A shark has bitten off my brother’s arm!
Call9111” Nearby swimmers heard the cries as Uncle Robert yelled, “Help us get the shark. It swallowed the arml” The swimmers converged on the spot, grabbing the six-and-a-half-foot bull shark by the tail and hoiding on for dear life. The twitching shark was hauled ashore barehanded by the group of men and shot.
They pried open the shark’s mouth while Robert pulled Jim’s right arm out from between its jaws. As the boy’s blood soaked into the white sand, lifeguards began CPR and applied a toumiquet. Paramedics arrived to stabilize Jim for transport to nearby Coastal Hospital.
His arm was packed in ice and taken along. In the emergency room, Dr. Elaine Rogers, the physician on duty, quickly ordered multiple transfusions to restore the boy’s blood supply as the ER team began stabilizing his vital signs.
Dr. Rogers began assembling the operating room team that would attempt to reattach Jim’s am. She called Ronan McBane, a microvascular surgeon, at his home. “Ronan, we have an arm cleanly severed above the elbow due to a shark bite. It looks like it was just chopped off, with not much shredding of the tissue.
The sharp-edged teeth of the shark bit through the boy’s arm so cleanly it almost seems to have been severed by a cleaver. The boy is eight years old and, although he is still in pretty bad shape, we think that since the arm was recovered and is in reasonably good condition, we have a good chance at success.” Further conversation convinced Ronan that reattachment was possible.
Twelve hours of surgery reconnected the organs of the arm, including the blood vessels. Blood flow was restored to the arm, and Jim was sent to recovery.
The doctor advised his parents that the arm was saved, but Jim would not regain total function of the arm. 1. What is the major cardiovascular issue for Jim with the severed arm? Type answer as the 1-word clinical term. ( 1 point) 2. Why did the paramedics apply a tourniquet to the severed arm?
Use 1 or 2 short sentences to explain why this treatment option is necessary. Be sure to explain in your own words, using simple terms, correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. Copied and pasted answers may receive 0 credit. ( 2 points)
3. What major artery in the brachial region would have been severed?
Type answer as the one word clinical name of this artery using lowercase letters. ( 1 point) 4. This artery divides into what 2 major arteries in the forearm?
Type only the one-word clinical name for each artery, separating words by one space. ( 2 points)
5. What 3 veins would have been severed in the brachial region? Type only the one-word clinical name for each vein, separating words by one space. (3 points)
6. Two of these 3 veins are continuous from the forearm through the brachial region.
The third vein is formed as 3 smaller veins in the forearm combine. Name these 3 smaller veins. Type only the one- or two-word clinical name for each vein, separating words by one space. The word vein is not needed in your answers. ( 3 points)
7. If Jim had been 80 , instead of 8 , years old, would you expect the surgery to have been as successful-yes or no? Type answer as one of the two choices given. ( 1 point)
8. Explain your answer to question 7 in 1 or 2 short sentences. Be sure to explain in your own words, using simple terms, correct grammar, spelling and punctuation. Copied and pasted
