Transcript Case Study #1 Lost in the Desert!

Case Study #1
Lost in the Desert!
Adapted from the National Center for Case
Study Teaching in Science, University at
Buffalo, State University of New York
Patient:
Mark
Basic Background/Vitals:
• 35 years of age
• Caucasian
• body weight = 70 kg
• height = 178 cm
Mark’s Case:
7 AM July 13th
• Mark starts out on a 3-hour drive across the desert on
US 95 from Yuma, Arizona to Blythe, California.
• Expected to be a very hot July day.
• Mark called his fiancée just before he left, informing
her he would be arriving in Blythe around 11 AM where
she was waiting for him.
• Unfortunately, the area Mark was traveling through is
so remote, cell phones are useless.
• When Mark failed to arrive by 12 noon, his fiancée
became nervous and called the highway patrol.
12:30 PM
July 13th
• Search and Rescue Officer Maria Arroyo reports finding an
abandoned car on the side of the road matching the
description provided by Mark’s fiancée.
• She notes that the car has a damaged grill and radiator.
• She also notices shoe prints leading into the desert toward
some low mountains in the distance.
• Officer Arroyo immediately calls her base for helicopter
assistance, consults her GPS, and provides the exact
coordinates.
3:00 PM
July 13th
• Local radio station reports temperature at 105° F in the
shade with a relative humidity of 5%.
• From a helicopter, paramedic Henry McAlister reports
seeing a shirtless, hatless man wandering in the desert.
• Upon landing the helicopter and confronting the man, the
crew found him conscious but clearly delirious.
• In fact, the man was unable to identify himself. It wasn’t
until Henry located the man’s driver’s license that it was
confirmed this man was indeed Mark.
Mark’s Symptoms
• weak, nauseous, disoriented, and complained of a
headache
• blood pressure = 70/50
• Mark was NOT sweating despite the oppressive heat
• body temperature = 105° F
• Mark’s face and back were VERY red
Now, refer to the question sheet you are about
to receive.