Definition of shock

[grayfalcon89]

Hi,

 

I've recently came across term "shock" in my Emergency Responder class. In the textbook by American Red Cross, the book defines "shock" as body's failure to some sort of event.

 

I thought "shock" meant like electric shock that hospital people do to resuscitate hearts?

 

Can anyone clarify on this term? Thank you.

[Glider]

Clinical shock refers basically to a loss of blood to critical organs and tissues, particularly the brain. This can either be due to haemorrhage (hypovolemic shock), or a vasovagal response that diverts blood away from the brain (distributive shock). In either case, a significant drop in blood pressure results, and the damage is done by a lack of blood (i.e. O2 and critical subtrates) to organs and tissues.

 

The outward signs are what one would expect under these circumstances: Blanched (white) appearance; cold, clammy skin; signs of cyanosis (in severe cases, like blue lips and sclera that signal hypoxia) fast, weak pulse; confusion; loss of consciousness and eventually death.

[Orbital]

Clinical shock refers basically to a loss of blood to critical organs and tissues, particularly the brain. This can either be due to haemorrhage (hypovolemic shock), or a vasovagal response that diverts blood away from the brain (distributive shock). In either case, a significant drop in blood pressure results, and the damage is done by a lack of blood (i.e. O2 and critical subtrates) to organs and tissues.

 

The outward signs are what one would expect under these circumstances: Blanched (white) appearance; cold, clammy skin; signs of cyanosis (in severe cases, like blue lips and sclera that signal hypoxia) fast, weak pulse; confusion; loss of consciousness and eventually death.

 

Yep! That is my understanding too

Although people miss use the term ALL the time.

[foodchain]

Shock is gods way of letting you die nicely, Just kidding. Shock has many different reasons. For instance, if you experience a level of "shock" you could be coming down from it many hours later still. Me thinks it relates to evolution and biological function overall or metabolism in basics. Glider and the above have the more functionally and accepted terminology for such, but its not all of it. You can be in shock and not notice such, that’s one of the reasons its called shock. It might be primitive verbiage overall for other realities of life, but in general you can be living and in shock without knowing such, and such has symptoms all of its own.

[Klaynos]

Yep! That is my understanding too

Although people miss use the term ALL the time.

 

Mine too, from many years of first air courses...

 

Shock as in surprise is a massive missuse!

[John Cuthber]

"Shock as in surprise is a massive missuse!"

Err, no. The use of the word shock for a suprise is the original meaning derived from old French. When they wanted a word for loss of effective blood pressure etc they were too lazy to make one up and they started to misuse a perfectly respectable word.

 

 

Or, more reasonably, like may words "shock" has more than one meaning and you need to sort out from the context which meaning applies in any given circumstance.

[Klaynos]

"Shock as in surprise is a massive missuse!"

Err, no. The use of the word shock for a suprise is the original meaning derived from old French. When they wanted a word for loss of effective blood pressure etc they were too lazy to make one up and they started to misuse a perfectly respectable word.

 

 

Or, more reasonably, like may words "shock" has more than one meaning and you need to sort out from the context which meaning applies in any given circumstance.

 

Let me justify my comment.

 

Often times when the media say "taken to hospital with shock" they normally do not mean the medical use of the word shock, which because of the context you would assume they did mean...

[John Cuthber]

I'm not in the habit of assuming that the media can make a medical diagnosis so I assume they mean "shock" in the non technical sense. What word would you like them to use?

[Glider]

Very few people get taken to hospital for 'startled'.

 

In that context the media will be using the term in the medical sense. They simply may not be aware that they are.

 

"Shock as in surprise is a massive missuse!"

Err, no. The use of the word shock for a suprise is the original meaning derived from old French. When they wanted a word for loss of effective blood pressure etc they were too lazy to make one up and they started to misuse a perfectly respectable word.

It wasn't strictly a misuse at the time the term was originated.

 

A nasty shock (in the original medical sense, i.e. Meaning "a sudden and disturbing impression on the mind" ) can result in neurocardiogenic Syncope (aka vasovagal syncope) or fainting (which is a more severe event than most people believe). The physiological events in fainting are the first steps towards clinical shock.

 

It was when people noticed that after a severe 'shock' (i.e. psychologically traumatic event) people would sometimes die, even though there were no signs of physical injury (or none severe enough to be fatal), that they were deemed to have died of 'the shock' and the term stuck. It's not stictly a misuse as it is still used to describe the psychophysiological results of the original term.

[John Cuthber]

"Very few people get taken to hospital for 'startled'."

Actually I think quite a few may be, but it gets labeled as taken in for observation. The purely (well, OK, mainly) psyhcological effect of a suprise like a car accident can leave people in no fit state to look after themseleves- not least they may overlook reletively severe injuries. I that case it makes perfect sense to take them into hospital to give them a chance to calm down and re-evaluate things.

Anyway, as I said, the truth is that the word "shock" has more than one meaning. "Clinical shock" is another matter.

[grayfalcon89]

So, to put in simple term, shock is condition such that some parts of body do not get enough blood?

 

We learned further about the shock on last class and here are 8 types of shock, which didn't include my initial idea of "electric" shock:

 

Anaphylactic (life-threatening allergic reaction to a substance from insect sting or foods/medications)

Cardiogenic (heart failure that results from cardiac arrest or heart attack)

Hemorrhagic (already explained above i think... losing lots of blood)

Metabolic (Loss of body fluids from vomiting or diarrhea)

Neurogenic (failure of nervous system to control size of blood vessel)

Psychogenic (emotional stress)

Respiratory (failure of lungs)

Septic (poison infection)

 

My Q, now that I typed these, is why septic reaction is not included as subpart of anaphylactic? I mean... you can see these people who have allergic to bee sting, and doesn't bee sting similar to poison (in some sense)?

[iNow]

My Q, now that I typed these, is why septic reaction is not included as subpart of anaphylactic? I mean... you can see these people who have allergic to bee sting, and doesn't bee sting similar to poison (in some sense)?

 

You definitely raise a good point that there seems to be overlap in the two, however, I'd suggest that Septic reaction (poison) is where the poison directly damages the systems and Anaphylactic reaction (allergic) is where the bodies own response to a stimuli causes the damage. So... mowing the grass is not directly harmful, but when my throat closes up and I get all itchy for doing so, that is. Yet, were I to swallow some bleach, the bleach would be directly causing the harm.

 

I'm guessing here, but I think that sounds reasonable.