d. The Prone Position. In the prone position, the patient is lying lace dawn on
his abdomen. Make sure that the patient's body is positioned as shown in figure 1-50.
Figure 1-50. The prone position.
STEPS TO ASSIST THE PATIENT TO ASSUME PRONE POSITION.
1. Parent's head, neck, and spine in straight line.
2. Head turned to side.
3. Arms parallel to body.
4, Legs straight.
1-20. SPECIAL SITUATIONS
a. Trauma. Additional safety precautions must be taken when handling trauma
patients in order to avoid inadvertently causing additional injury. Special precautions
must be taken particularly when handling patients with skull, spinal, or long bone injuries
or patients with fractures, dislocations, fresh casts, splints, and bandages. The
positioning technique must be adapted to the patient so that he is moved as little as
possible.
b. Spinal Injuries. Never move a patient with a possible spinal injury. A patient
with a spinal injury should be brought in on a backboard. The X-rays will be taken
directly through the backboard or across the X-ray table. Then, based on preliminary
X-ray results, the physician will instruct you whether or not to move the patient.
c. Ideal Setup. The ideal setup for dealing with trauma patients is a specially
equipped radiographic room adjoining the emergency room. Many hospitals now have
such special units equipped with special radiographic equipment and stretchers with
radiolucent tops. Severely injured patients can, thus, be examined in the position in
which they arrive. If you do not have such a setup in your hospital, then the trauma
patient must be moved as little as possible while being conveyed to the main radiology
department. This patient should, of course, have precedence over non-emergency
cases.
MD0961
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