EMS Care Chapter 07 | Life Span Development

EMS Care Chapter 07 | Life Span Development | Life Span Development begins with an introduction to the subject We subsequently explore  in-depth the following lessons:

• Anatomy and Physiology.
• Infancy.
• Toddler and preschool.
• School-age and Adolescence.
• Early and middle adulthood.
• Late adulthood (61 years and older).

Core Concepts covered :

• Understand physiological and psychological changes that happen at every age.
• Know if the vital signs and growth rate are normal for the patient’s age.
• Handle the patient well according to their psychological understanding.

Important Notes:

• If you only want to take this  EMS care course online for CME credit, you can pay here.  The fee for online-only does NOT include a skills session nor (re)certification.  You will receive a certificate for CME credit after successful completion of the course.
•  If you sign up for one of those courses, you will be automatically enrolled in this course. Click here for scheduled courses.
• To get credit for this course, you must watch all the lessons in their entirety, the course review, and pass the quiz at the end with a score of 75% or better.

An Excerpt from the course on Life Span Development

A fontanelle, or a soft spot, is the space between the bones of an infant’s skull. This area is covered by tough membranes to protect the underlying tissues and brain.

Typically, there are two fontanelles, and they are the anterior and posterior fontanelle. The anterior fontanelle is the place where the two frontal and parietal bones meet, and this can remain soft until about 18 months to 2 years of age.

The posterior fontanelle, on the other hand, is the place where the two parietal bones meet the occipital bone.

Both these fontanelles close as the infant becomes older. And out of the two, the posterior closes earlier than the anterior.

From an EMT standpoint, a sunken fontanelle may indicate dehydration. Also, a bulging fontanelle can be a sign of ICP, provided the infant is not crying.