Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm 20 years old. I've been studying emergency health to become a paramedic for 3 years now. I'll be finishing this technique in 2022. This glossary is to help people, that aren't working in this field, to understand our vocabulary. This glossary was made with the definition on different websites and dictionary. It contains 20 words, that we use a lot, with their own definitions. There's also a tool to help you learn how to pronounce the word. Sometimes, the terms we're using can be difficult to understand and assimilate, but hopefully, this glossary will help.
Anaphylactic shock
Noun
An anaphylactic shock is an extreme, often life-threatening allergic reaction to an antigen to which the body has become hypersensitive.
Example: Last time I ate peanuts, I had an anaphylactic shock and went to the hospital.
en: Choc anaphylactique
Angina pectoris
Noun
Angina pectoris is a medical term to define a chest pain or discomfort due to a coronary heart disease.
Example: I'm not feeling well. I feel a pressure in my chest like I did last time before having a heart attack. It is probably due to my heart problem.
en: Angine de poitrine
Anisocoria
Noun
Anisocoria is when the two pupils aren't the same size.
Example: When I took my penlight to see his pupils, they weren't the same size. One was smaller than the other.
en: Anisocorie
Aphasia
Noun
Aphasia is a condition that robs you of the ability to communicate. It can affect your ability to speak, write and understand language.
Example: When my grandmother had her stroke, she couldn't talk properly, and she didn't seem to understand what I was telling her.
en: Aphasie
Apnea
Noun
Apnea is the cessation of breathing. During apnea, there is no movement of the muscles of inhalation, and the volume of the lungs initially remains unchanged.
Example: The patient stopped breathing. He's in apnea.
en: Apnée
Bradycardia
Noun
Bradycardia is the opposite of tachycardia. It's when your heartbeat is too slow. It also depends on your age and physical condition.
Example: His heartbeat is at 45 beats per minutes. It's too slow, and his blood pressure is not sufficient.
en: Bradycardie
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
Noun
CPR is a lifesaving technique used when the heart has stopped. It consists of 30 compressions and 2 rescue breaths
Example: We can't feel the heartbeat and the respiration has stopped. We are going to begin the CPR right now.
en: Réanimation cardio-pulmonaire ou cardiorespiratoire (RCR)
Combitube
Noun
The Combitube is a blind insertion airway device used in the pre-hospital and emergency setting. It's designed to provide an airway to facilitate the mechanical ventilation of a patient in respiratory distress.
Example: The patient is not breathing on his own, so we are going to use the Combitube to help him breathe.
en: Combitube
Convulsion
Noun
A convulsion is an episode in which you experience rigidity and uncontrolled muscle spasms along with altered consciousness. There's a lot of reason that can causes a convulsion, and a lot of different type.
Example: I saw him fell on the ground, and he started to have spasms. I think he had convulsion.
en: Convulsion
Defibrillation
Noun
Treatment for life-threatening cardiac dysrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (VF) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (VT). A defibrillator is use to deliver a choc to the heart.
Example: We will defibrillate the patient since he's in ventricular fibrillation.
en: Défibrillation
Dysarthria
Noun
Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder in which the muscles that are used to produce speech are damaged, paralyzed, or weakened. Often, you can see it when you ask the person to smile. Only one side will be normal and the other one will not move as much.
en: Dysarthrie
Miosis
Noun
Miosis is an excessive constriction of the pupil.
Example: His eyes were in miosis, because the pupil was tiny.
en: Myosis
Mydriasis
Noun
Mydriasis is when the pupil is dilated, so bigger than usual.
Example: A friend of mine took MDMA and his pupils were so big. We call that a mydriasis.
en: Mydriase
Oxygen Saturation (SpO2)
Noun
measure of how much hemoglobin is bounded to oxygen, compare to how much hemoglobin is still unbound.
Example: His oxygen saturation is actually at 89%, so he'll need an oxygen mask.
en: Saturométrie
Pneumothorax
Noun
A pneumothorax is a collapsed lung. It occurs when air leaks into the space between your lung and chest wall. This air pushes on the outside of your lung and makes it collapse
Example: My brother suffered from a pneumothorax after his car accident.
en: Pneumothorax
Pulmonary embolism
Noun
Pulmonary embolism is a blockage in one of the pulmonary arteries in your lungs. In most cases, pulmonary embolism is caused by blood clots that travel to the lungs from deep veins
Example: He's having shortness of breath and chest pain when he's breathing. He's probably having a pulmonary embolism.
en: Embolie pulmonaire
Stroke
Noun
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of your brain is interrupted or reduced, preventing brain tissue from getting oxygen and nutrients. It results with a lot of different symptoms like paralysis, aphasia, etc. The person needs a treatment as fast as possible.
Example: My grandmother had a stroke last night and went to the hospital to get thrombolysis.
en: Accident vasculaire cérébral (AVC)
Syncope
Noun
Syncope is a temporary loss of consciousness usually related to insufficient blood flow to the brain. The brain starts to feel the lack of oxygen and the person loose consciousness.
Example: I started to see stars and blurry and then, I lost consciousness. The person had a syncope.
en: Syncope
Tachycardia
Noun
Tachycardia happens when your heartbeat is too fast. The measure to define tachycardia depends on your age and physical condition.
Example: His pulse is over 150 beats per minutes. It's way too fast for his body.
en: Tachycardie
Ventricular fibrillation (VF)
Noun
V-fib is an abnormal heart rhythm in which the ventricles of the heart quiver instead of pumping normally.
Example: The patient is in V-fib, we're going to shock him with the defibrillator.