O

obesity

A condition characterized by the excessive accumulation and storage of fat in the body.

obsession

A recurrent and persistent idea, thought, or impulse to carry out an act that is experienced as senseless or repugnant, and that the person cannot voluntarily suppress.

obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

An anxiety disorder that includes recurrent obsessions (persistent intrusive ideas, thoughts, impulses, or images) and compulsions (intentional, repetitive behaviors performed to decrease anxiety in response to an obsession) that are sufficiently severe to cause marked distress and/or to significantly interfere with a person's normal routine, occupational functioning, or usual social relationships.

obstructed airway

A condition in which the airway is partially or completely blocked so that breathing is difficult or impossible.

obstruction

An object or material that blocks, clogs, or impedes.

occlusive dressing

An airtight/watertight compress applied to a sucking chest wound, an abdominal evisceration, or other open wounds. Occlusive dressings are commercially available or can be made from household items like plastic wrap or petroleum jelly.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

An organization created by the United States Congress in 1970 to ensure safe and healthful working conditions by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance. OSHA is part of the Department of Labor of the United States. The administrator of OSHA is the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. OSHA's administrator reports to the Secretary of Labor, who is a member of the cabinet of the President of the United States.

OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

OPA

Oropharyngeal airway.

open airway

An unblocked air passage from the mouth and/or nose to the lungs. An unconscious patient's airway may be blocked by a foreign object or the tongue. Opening the airway may require tilting the head back, lifting the jaw, inserting an airway adjunct, and/or clearing the airway using chest thrusts or similar technique.

open-ended question

In a class discussion, a question that must be answered with an explanation (and not "yes" or "no"), designed to initiate or extend the debate.

open fracture

A broken bone in which one of the bone ends pierces the skin causing an open wound.

open wound

Damage to the soft tissue of the body due to a cut, scrape, tear, or puncture that causes a break in the skin and external bleeding.

oral airway

A common name for an oropharyngeal airway.

oropharyngeal airway

A device inserted into the mouth of an unconscious patient without a gag reflex to establish and maintain an open airway by preventing the tongue and lower jaw from covering the epiglottis and blocking the airway. The oropharyngeal airway is also known as an oral airway, an OPA, an airway adjunct, or a Guedel airway (after the inventor, Arthur Guedel).

OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

oxidation

The process by which materials react with oxygen in the surrounding air and are broken down (e.g., iron rusts and organic materials putrefy).

oxygen

An abundant and widely distributed chemical element which combines with most other elements to form oxides and is essential to plant and animal life. In nature, oxygen forms a molecule called dioxygen (O2). Dioxygen gas can be administered to patients in acute respiratory distress or respiratory arrest; it is available by prescription to patients with chronic breathing difficulties..

P

pacemaker

A miniature, electronic device implanted in the chest to regulate the contractions of the heart.

pain

An unpleasant sensation of varying degrees of severity that occurs as a consequence of injury, disease, or emotional disorder.

palate

The bony and muscular partition separating the oral and nasal cavities.

palmoplantar

Of or relating to the palms of both hands and the soles of both feet.

palpation

Examination with the hands, as when checking a patient for injuries or when feeling for a pulse.

palpitation

Forcible or irregular pulsation of the heart that can be felt by the patient.

pancreas

The elongated, irregularly shaped gland lying behind the stomach that secretes pancreatic fluid to the duodenum and insulin, glucagon, and somatostatin into the bloodstream.

panic attack

The sudden onset of intense apprehension, fear, anxiety, or sense of impending doom accompanied by increased autonomic nervous system activity and by various constitutional disturbances, depersonalization, and derealization.

panic disorder

Recurrent panic attacks that occur often and unpredictably. Also known as generalized anxiety disorder.

papule

A circumscribed, solid elevation of skin with no visible fluid.

paralysis

Loss or impairment of the ability to move a body part, usually as the result of nerve damage.

paranoia

A severe but relatively rare mental disorder characterized by the presence of systematized delusions, often of a persecutory nature involving being followed, poisoned, or harmed in some way, in an otherwise intact personality.

patch

1. A large macule. 2. A large piece of material (e.g., adhesive plaster) used medically to cover a wound.

patent airway

An open, unblocked airway.

pathologist

A physician who practices, evaluates, or supervises research, diagnostic testing, etc. to determine the causes and nature of diseases.

pathology

The branch of medical science concerned with all aspects of disease.

patient

One who receives medical care, including first aid and CPR.

patron

A customer or supporter.

pediatrician

A physician who specializes in the medical care of infants and children.

pediatrics

The branch of medical science that deals with the care of infants and children and the treatment of their diseases and conditions.

penile

Of or relating to the penis.

penis

The male organ for copulation and urination.

perfusion

The act of pumping blood through blood vessels.

periocular

Surrounding the eyeball but within the orbit.

periorbital

Of, relating to, occurring in, or being the tissue surrounding or lining the orbit of either eye.

peripheral vision

Perception at the edges of visual field, produced by retinal stimulation outside the macula. Also known as indirect vision.

periungual

Occurring or situated on or around a fingernail or toenail.

personal flotation device (PFD)

A wearable or throwable buoyant devices designed to keep a person afloat in the water. For more information about PFDs, go to the US Coast Guard website.

personality disorder

A general term for the group of behavioral ailments characterized by ingrained maladaptive patterns of deviant behaviors, lifestyle, and/or social adjustment, which patterns manifest in impaired judgment, affect, impulse control, and interpersonal functioning.

PFD

Personal flotation device.

pH

A number used in expressing acidity or alkalinity of a solution on a scale from 0 to 14 with 7 representing neutrality, numbers below 7 indicating increasing acidity, and numbers above 7 indicate increasing alkalinity. Swimming pool water should be maintained at a slightly alkaline pH of 7.2 to 7.6. Water with a high pH can become calcified and cloudy while acidity water can corrode metal and stain pool surfaces. Both pH extremes negatively impact the effectiveness of free chlorine in the water and can cause eye irritation. (The pH of the eye is approximately 7.2.)

pH bounce

A rapid rise or fall in pH without any apparent cause.

pharynx

The medical name for the throat (the joint opening of the trachea and esophagus).

phobia

Any objectively unfounded morbid fear that arouses a state of panic.

phonophobia

1. A morbid fear of one's own voice or of sounds in general. 2. An abnormal sensitivity to noise, a common symptom associated with migraine headaches.

physical therapy

The profession concerned with the promotion of health, the prevention of physical disability, and the evaluation and rehabilitation of patients inflicted with injury, pain, or disease.

pier

A platform extending from shore over water and supported by piles, used to secure, protect, or provide access to boats.

pigment

Any material or agent that applies or provides color, including that in red blood cells, hair, or the iris of each eye.

pink algae

A misnomer used for pink slime, a bacterial growth.

pink slime

A growth of pink, slimy bacterial matter in swimming pools. Sometimes called pink algae, although it is not an algae at all.

pituitary gland

A small oval endocrine organ at the base of the brain that produces various hormones that regulate growth, reproduction, etc.

placebo

An inert substance given as a medicine for its suggestive effect.

plague

A disease caused by the Yersenia pestis bacterium, transmitted by the bite of infected animals, usually fleas, or by direct or indirect contact with droplets of saliva from, or materials touched by, an infected individual. The plague is divided into three types: bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic. Signs and symptoms of plague include fever, chills, weakness, swelling of the lymph nodes (bubonic), subcutaneous bleeding and darkening of the skin (septicemic), septic shock (septicemic), and chest pain and breathing difficulties (pneumonic). Left untreated, the plague kills 50% to 90% of those infected. Even with treatment, up to 15% of those infected will die. There is no commercially available vaccine for the plague; prevention consists of eliminating rat populations, avoiding the bite of fleas carried by infected rats and other animals, and taking standard precautions in the presence of an infected individual.

plaque

1. A broad papule or a confluence of papules. 2. An atherosclerotic lesion. 3. A sticky, usually colorless film on teeth formed by bacteria.

plasma

The fluid portion of blood or lymph as distinguished from suspended material.

plastic wrap

A very thin, transparent sheet of plastic packaged in rolls and used to wrap and store food and, for first aid, to make an occlusive dressing.

platelet

One of the tiny, colorless, disk-shaped cell fragments that assist in blood clotting by sticking to other platelets and, as a mass, to a rupture in the wall of a blood vessel. Also known as a thrombocyte.

pneumonia

A disease of the lungs usually caused by infection and characterized by inflammation, congestion, fever, chills, cough, and difficulty breathing.

policy

A principle and associated guidelines and procedures formulated and enforced by the governing body of an organization (e.g., the pool operator or a local recreation department) to direct and limit the actions staff to provide for a safe environment and to achieve organizational objectives.

pollen

Microspores of seed plants carried by the wind or by insects before fertilization. Pollen is a major cause of hay fever and allergic reactions.

polyp

A mass of tissue that bulges or protrudes outward from the normal surface level.

postmenopausal

Of or relating to the period following menopause.

postpartum

After childbirth.

posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

The development of characteristic long-term symptoms following a psychologically traumatic event outside the range of usual human experience. PTSD symptoms include persistently reexperiencing the event, avoidance behaviors of experiences reminiscent of the event, numbed responsiveness to environmental stimuli, depression, anxiety, sleepinessness, excessive use of alcohol, etc.

preemployment testing

Recommended knowledge and skill examination of prospective lifeguard candidates prior to hiring and placement on the job. At a minimum, preemployment testing should include an oral interview, written exam, swimming skills, in-water rescue and victim removal skills, and first aid/CPR skills

pregnancy

The state of a female after conception until birth or the termination of gestation.

primary responsibilities

The duties of a lifeguard that involve protecting the public in and around the water, preventing injuries, responding to emergencies, effecting rescues, administering first aid/CPR care, and assisting other lifeguarding to the completion of these duties. All other responsibilities assigned to lifeguards (e.g., facility checking/maintenance, report writing, public relations, teaching, etc.) should be considered secondary and should never interfere with the uninterrupted completion of any primary responsibility.

procedure

A step-by-step guideline that explains the safe and correct way to complete an operation or comply with a rule or policy. A procedure is sometimes called a standard operating procedure (SOP).

prolapsed cord

A complication of childbirth in which the umbilical cord protrudes from the vaginal opening before the baby. This can threaten the baby's life as he or she moves through the birth canal. To care for this complication, the mother should assume a knee-chest position (on knees with head to the ground and hip up) to take pressure off the cord.

PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder.

pulmonary

Of or relating to the lungs.

pulmonary edema

Fluid accumulation in the lungs usually due to failure of the left ventricle of the heart. This condition may lead to impaired gas exchange and respiratory failure.

purulent

Containing, consisting of, or being pus.

pus

A thick, cloudy, yellowish-white fluid material formed at a place of infection or inflammation (e.g., an abscess) and consisting of white blood cells, tissue debris, and microorganisms.

pustule

A small elevation of the skin containing cloudy, purulent material.

pyrophobia

A morbid fear of fire.