A coastal town where you live is struck by an F5 hurricane. Buildings have collapsed, power has been lost, and local emergency services are overwhelmed. Two victims next door are trapped by debris in two different rooms of a house and need immediate attention: an awake but unresponsive older woman with blood partially obstructing her airway and an open fracture of her leg; and her pale, unconscious 20-year-old granddaughter who has a profuse, pulsatile hemorrhage from a radial artery laceration caused by flying broken glass. No one is available to assist you at the moment.
1. Which injured person will you attend to first and why?
2. What is your priority for emergency care in this situation?
3. Without adequate medical supplies, how will you use your creativity to care for each of these women?
4. If one of these patients dies while you are caring for the other one, how do you think you would cope with this situation?