Suspension trauma

Issues associated with the use of harness near the water s edge and suspension trauma... 

Harnesses should only be used where no other protective measure can be provided as they can pose an additional tripping hazard and potential fatal suspension trauma. 

Tricks the suspended employee may use to delay the onset of suspension trauma, such as bicychng or pumping the legs. How to administer basic medical and first aid. 

Have the suspended worker pump or bicycle his or her legs to delay suspension trauma. 

Basics on how suspension trauma may occur, signs and symptoms, and factors that increase risk. 

Tricks the suspended employee may use to delay the onset of suspension trauma. 

Fall arrest systems are many times the first solution for safety professionals. However, fall arrest means that the target of elimination is not the hazard of fall but rather injury from contact with a lower surface. Fall arrest is not a first choice. Here the hierarchy is at best fourth. Workers cau be injured in the fall, in the arrest, during the lapse in time from fall to rescue by suspension trauma, and during rescue activities. Additionally, many do not understand fall distance. Too many times... 

Let us review some points of fall rescue plans that are specific to fall protection. A goal of rescuing someone from a suspended harness and lanyard should be four minutes. American National Standards Institute (ANSI) lists six minutes as the necessary response time for fall situations. However, you should note that suspension trauma can begin to set in at the one-minute-thirty-second mark, and four minutes is considered crucial because most people begin to exhibit signs of trauma at this point. The plan should address ... 

A couple of simple points will facilitate rescue. The first is that no matter what type of fall arrest is used, a plan should be in place for retrieving the fallen worker if possible with a retrieval line. Retrieval lines are lines attached that will enable workers to quickly pull a fallen worker over to them while the connecting mechanism slides along the horizontal lifeline. A second simple tip is to issue rescue steps for all harnesses. These inexpensive steps stay attached to the side of the harness, and the fallen worker, if conscious after the fall is arrested, can deploy the step. The step hangs near the foot and allows the worker to step up and take pressure away from his legs and lower extremities. This will prevent suspension trauma. 

To reduce the risks and meet the prompt rescue requirement, OSHA recommends that you implement plans to prevent prolonged suspension in fall arrest systems. This includes identifying rescue procedures that address the potential for suspension trauma. Rescue procedures should address answers to these questions ... 

Penicillin G benzathine suspension is the aqueous suspension of the salt obtained by the combination of 1 mol of an ammonium base and 2 mol of penicillin G to yield A/,A -dibenzylethylenediamine dipenicilhn G. The salt itself is 0.02% soluble in water. The long persistence of penicillin in the blood after a suitable IM dose reduces cost, the need for repeated injections, and local trauma. The local anesthetic effect of penicillin G benzathine is comparable with that of penicillin G procaine. 

PMN Assays. Leukocytes in suspension were quantitated by electronic particle counting to determine the changes induced by mechanical trauma. Values obtained after incubation with drugs or with saline were the baseline values to which post shear values were related. 

Topically applied ophthalmic drugs are used for their local effects (see Chapter 63) requiring absorption of the drug through the cornea corneal infection or trauma thus may result in more rapid absorption. Ophthalmic delivery systems that provide prolonged duration of action (e.g., suspensions and ointments) are useful, as are ocular inserts providing continuous delivery of drug. 

Lasky MR, Metzler MH, Phillips JO. A prospective study of omeprazole suspension to prevent clinically significant gastrointestinal bleeding from stress ulcers in mechanically ventilated trauma patients. J Trauma 1998 44 527-533. 

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