the victim as comfortable as possible. Fractures shouldbe immobilized and supported. Immobilization greatlyreduces, and sometimes eliminates, pain.An injured person’s body heat must be conserved.Therefore, heat is important in the treatment of shock.Exposure to cold, with resulting loss of body heat, cancause shock to develop or to become worse. You willhave to judge the amount of covering to use byconsidering the weather and the general circumstancesof the accident. Often a light covering will be enough tokeep the casualty comfortable. Wet clothing should beremoved and dry covering provided, even on a hot day.Use blankets or any dry material to conserve body heat.Artificial means of warming (hot water bottles, heatedbricks, heated sand) should not ordinarily be used.Artificial heat may cause loss of body fluids (bysweating), and it brings the blood closer to the surface,defeating the body’s own efforts to supply blood to thevital organs and to the brain. Also, the warming agentmay burn the victim.REVIEW 4 QUESTIONSQ1. What is shock?Q2. List the symptoms of shock.a.b.c.d.e.f.g.Q3. True or false. Keep an injured person warmenough for comfort, but do not let the victimbecome overheated.Q4. If you suspect a person to be in shock, what is thebest position for that person?SUICIDELearning Objective: When you finish this chapter, youwill be able to—Recognize suicidal tendencies and possibletreatment.Suicide among young adults is a serious andg r ow i n g p r o b l e m . A m o n g N av y p e r s o n n e l ,approximately 10% of the Navy’s nonhostileactive-duty deaths are caused by suicide. Among theleading causes of nonhostile deaths in the Navy, suicideranks third behind accidents and heat-related causes.The most frequent suicide victims in the Navy areenlisted males between the ages of 17 and 24 and inpaygrades E-1 to E-6.Why suicide? There isn’t a simple answer as to whypeople choose to kill themselves. Usually, someemotional trauma is so great they “just want to stop thepain.” They feel helpless, hopeless, and worthless. Theyfeel that suicide is the only way out.CAUSES OF SUICIDEMost suicides are caused by a combination ofevents that lead a person to believe that suicide is theonly way out. The following are some common causesof suicide:The breakup of a close relationship with a lovedone or difficulties in interpersonal relationshipsThe death of a loved one, spouse, child, parent,sibling, friend, or even a petThe loss of social or financial status of the family14-16Student Notes:
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