EMT COMPLETE

A Comprehensive Worktext
SECOND EDITION

CHAPTER 7
Life Span
Development

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 Learning Readiness

• EMS Education Standards, text p. 157

• Objectives, text p. 157
• Key terms, text p. 157

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 Setting the Stage

• Overview of Lesson Topics

 Childhood Development
• Newborns and Infants
• Toddlers
• Preschoolers
• School-Age Children
• Adolescents

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 Setting the Stage

• Overview of Lesson Topics

 Adult Development Characteristics
• Early Adulthood
• Middle Adulthood
• Late Adulthood

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 EMERGENCY DISPATCH

• Chapter 7 Emergency Dispatch, text p. 158

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 EMERGENCY DISPATCH

• Discussion Questions
 How does a patient's age affect what
you should expect to find in your
assessment?
 How does a patient's age affect the
treatment you will provide?

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 Introduction

A human life often spans several generations.

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 Introduction

• Humans undergo biological, cognitive,

and psychosocial changes throughout
the life span
• Each phase of development has unique
characteristics

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 Childhood Development

• Pediatrics is the branch of medicine

concerning the development, care, and
study of diseases of children from
infancy through adolescents
• Normal vital signs vary with age
• Age group definitions can vary

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 Vital Signs

Normal Vital Signs

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Newborns and Infants

Newborn baby (neonate): birth to 28 days.

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 Newborns and Infants

• Newborn
 3 to 3.5 kg (6.6 to 7.7 lb) at birth
 Relies on breast milk or formula for
nutrition

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Newborns and Infants

Infant: birth to one year.

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 Newborns and Infants

• Infant
 Communicates by crying
 Fontanels

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 Newborns and Infants

• Infant
 Birth to 1 year
 Respiratory system
• Nose breather
• Relies on diaphragm for breathing
• Easily fatigued
• Small, less-rigid airways

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 Newborns and Infants

• Developmental milestones: two months

 Tracks objects with eyes
 Recognizes familiar faces
 Smiles
 Recognizes some familiar sounds
 Moves in response to stimuli

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 Newborns and Infants

• Developmental milestones: six months

 Sits upright
 Supports upper body with arms while on
stomach
 Imitates sounds
 Makes one-syllable sounds
 Grasps objects
 Recognizes familiar objects at a distance

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 Newborns and Infants

• Developmental milestones: 12 months

 Walks with help
 Knows name
 Sits without assistance
 Crawls
 Manipulates objectives
 Feeds himself finger foods
 Says and understands meaning of simple
words
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Stop, Review, Remember

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 Toddlers

Toddler: one to three years.

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 Toddlers

• General characteristics
 Developing sense of independence
 Cannot reason well or understand
complex ideas
 Does not like to be touched by strangers
or separated from parents
 May perceive injury or illness as
punishment
 Ready to begin toilet training

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 Toddlers

• By age three years

 Masters basics of language, has
expanding vocabulary
 Walks alone, begins to run
 Carries toys while walking
 Climbs furniture and stairs

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 Toddlers

• By age three years

 Scribbles
 Recognizes body parts
 Sorts objects by color or shape
 Forms simple sentences

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 Toddlers

• Approach
 When possible, allow caregiver to hold
child as you observe and obtain the
history

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 Preschoolers

Preschooler: three to six years. (Royalty Free/© Masterfile)

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 Preschoolers

• General characteristics
 Concrete thinking skills, ability to solve
basic problems and follow instructions
 Motor skills are refined
 May believe injury or illness is
punishment
 May fear potential for pain and prospect
of injury

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 Preschoolers

• General characteristics
 Needs simple explanations of what is
going on
 Separation from familiarity causes
anxiety
 Literal interpretations of statements

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 Preschoolers

• By age five years

 Balances on one foot for 10 seconds
 Hops, jumps, climbs, does somersaults
 Dresses self
 Uses forks and spoons appropriately
 Counts to 10
 Draws simple pictures
 Recalls and tells stories

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 Preschoolers

• Approach
 Ask them questions about their illness
or injury, talk to them
 Take time to build trust
 Begin examination with extremities and
trunk, moving toward head later

continued on next slide

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 Preschoolers

• Approach
 Allow them to touch equipment before
you use it, as appropriate
 Do not lie to the patient; it destroys
trust

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 School-Age Children

School-age child: six to 12 years.

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 School-Age Children

• General characteristics
 Basic understanding of body functions
 Generally cooperative
 Fundamental problem solving, but lacks
insight to complex situations
 Compares self to others and seeks
approval

continued on next slide

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 School-Age Children

• General characteristics
 Develops self-esteem and morals
 Still literal in interpretations
 Afraid of death, dying, blood, and pain

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 School-Age Children

• Puberty
 Physical sexual maturation; occurs
under influence of hormones
 Girls begin puberty at 10 to 11 years
• Breast development
• Pubic hair
• Menstruation

continued on next slide

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 School-Age Children

• Puberty
 Boys begin puberty at 12 to 13
• Testicular enlargement
• Facial and underarm hair
• Changes in voice

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 Adolescents

Adolescent: 12 to 18 years.

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 Adolescents

• General characteristics
 Able to process and express complex
ideas
 Fears death, disfigurement and injury,
yet may have a sense of immortality or
indestructibility

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 Adolescents

• General characteristics
 Takes risks but judges consequences
poorly
 Wants to be treated like adults, yet may
need the assurances and support a
younger child doe

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 Adolescents

• General characteristics
 Not legally able to make own medical
decisions
 Desire for privacy
 Increases in self-consciousness, peer
pressure, interest in sexuality, desire for
independence
 May participate in self-destructive
behaviors

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 Adolescents

• General characteristics
 Increased rates of depression and
suicide
 Two- to three-year rapid growth spurt
• Girls usually are done growing by 16
years
• Boys usually are done growing by 18
years

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 Adolescents

• Approach
 Try to interview in private; you may not
get the whole story in the presence of
parents or others
 Be nonjudgmental in questions and
responses
 Respect modesty

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 Early Adulthood

Early adult: 18 to 40 years.

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 Early Adulthood

• Completes education and begin careers

• Begins families
• Lifelong routines develop
• Generally in good health; leading cause
of death is trauma

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 Middle Adulthood

Middle adult: 40 to 60 years.

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 Middle Adulthood

• Develops well-established routines and

careers
• Child-rearing
• Body systems function well, but
beginning to decline
• Decreases in vision and hearing; height
may decrease

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 Middle Adulthood

• Characteristics
 Gray hair, wrinkles
 Increased risk of chronic disease and
cancer
 Women go through menopause in late
40s to early 50s
 Financial commitments may increase
 Increased psychological resilience

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 Late Adulthood

Late adult: 60 years to end of life.

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 Late Adulthood

• Pronounced bodily changes

• Awareness of mortality

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 Late Adulthood

• Life expectancy: average number

years a person of a given age will live
• Geriatrics: branch of medicine that
specializes in the care of older adults

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 Late Adulthood

• Physiological changes
 Cardiovascular system
 Respiratory system
 Nervous system
 Mobility

continued on next slide

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 Late Adulthood

• Physiological changes
 Decreased pain sensitivity
 Overlapping medical conditions and
multiple medications
 Fear of hospitalization and loss of
independence

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 Late Adulthood

• Variations in the physical health and

cognitive ability of the elderly are great
• Do not make assumptions about the
presence of illnesses or cognitive
decline

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 Lesson Summary

• Infants
 Birth to 1 year
 Dependent on caregivers, increase in
mobility and language toward end of
year
• Toddlers
 1 to 3 years
 Beginning sense of independence but
frightened by strangers
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 Lesson Summary

• Preschoolers
 3 to 6 years
 May believe illness and injury are
punishments; fear the sight of blood
and potential for pain

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 Lesson Summary

• School-age
 6 to 12 years
 Cooperative, but share many fears of
preschoolers
• Adolescents
 12 to 18 years
 Self-conscious and desire privacy;
increased risk of injury

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 Lesson Summary

• Adulthood
 Early, middle, and late stages
 Most changes occur in late adulthood

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