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Her Parka Case Study

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Part I – The Slopes
Questions
1. What mechanisms did Elaine’s body employ to maintain homeostasis?
The inability to maintain homeostasis would cause Elaine’s body tissues metabolic rate to decline as well as inhibit the neural transmission and thus limit the control that she has over her body (Giesbrecht and Wilkerson 24). Since Elaine is conscious her bodies response to the cold environment. This allows her to initiate shivering which increases metabolism, ventilation, heart rate, and cardiac output. Thermoregulatory responses also include vasodilatation, sweating, and vasoconstriction (Giesbrecht and Wilkerson & 24). Thanks to these mechanisms her body is able to maintain homeostasis.

a. Where are the sensors for cold?
The integumentary …show more content…

This in turn cools and decreases the ability to perform physical activity and thus increases the risk of freezing the tissue. Areas that are limited in blood flow such as the hands, feet, ears and nose are vulnerable to frostbite (Giesbrecht and Wilkerson 19).
Part II –The Emergency Room
Questions
1. Why was Elaine instructed to remove her parka?

Elaine has been in the cold for some time and her parka is no longer warm. Her body’s reaction to being cold is an indication that her parka is affecting her body temperature. Mondo, the paramedic and Ski Patrol did the right thing to remove Elaine’s parka.

2. Why was she shivering?

Shivering is an indication that hypothermia is on the rise (Giesbrecht and Wilkerson 24). In order to increase Elaine’s body heat, her body resorted to shivering. When shivering, “80 percent of the consumed energy is given off as heat allowing for the heat production to be five times as much as the heat production of the body at rest,” (Giesbrecht and Wilkerson 24). This is able to happen because her skeletal muscle is able to expand and contract to allow for normal body activities to

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