Color-Coded Safety Glossary

First Aid/CPR - Health/Well-being - Home and Workplace Safety - Lifeguarding/Water Safety - Swimming/Aquatics

A-B     C-D     E-F     G-H     I-J     K-L     M-N     O-P    Q-R    S-T    U-V   W-X-Y-Z

U

undertow

In physical oceanography, a steady, offshore current below shore-breaking waves that occurs to compensate for the amount of water being transported towards the shore by the waves.

unsafe act

An action that will lead to potential injury, loss of time, or properly damage.

universal precautions

An approach to infection control developed in the mid-1980s in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic that requires first aid providers and healthcare workers to treat all human blood and certain human body fluids as if they were known to be infectious for HIV, HBV, or other bloodborne pathogens. Universal precautions call for the use of personal protective equipment such as exam gloves and face shields, hand hygiene after removing gloves, and special handling of contaminated sharps.

Two other infection control protocols have been developed since universal precautions: body-substance isolation in 1987 and standard precautions in 1996. Standard precautions contain elements of universal precautions and body-substance isolation, but standard precautions address the gaps in the former protocols and include precautions for other modes of disease transmission, including airborne and droplet transmission. Today, standard precautions constitute the primary strategy to prevent healthcare-related infection.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a page that explains universal precautions.

In addition, check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Standard Precaution pages and the World Health Organization Standard Precautions leaflet.

universal sign of choking

The clutching of the throat with one or both hands by a conscious person who cannot cough, speak, or breathe due to an obstructed airway.

unstable angina

Unexpected chest pain that typically occurs while resting.  The most common cause is reduced blood flow to the heart muscle because the coronary arteries are narrowed by fatty buildups (atherosclerosis). These fatty buildups can rupture causing injury to the coronary blood vessel and blood clotting which blocks the flow of blood to the heart muscle.

United States Lifesaving Association (USLA)

America’s nonprofit professional association of beach lifeguards and open water rescuers. The USLA works to reduce the incidence of death and injury in the aquatic environment through public education, national lifeguard standards, training programs, promotion of high levels of lifeguard readiness, and other means.

The USLA was started as the National Surf Life Saving Association of America in 1967. ts creation was inspired by the Australian national organization (Surf Life Saving Australia), which lifeguards from California learned about during an international life saving competition in Australia in 1956. The idea of a national organization continued to spread throughout US beaches through national and regional lifeguard competitions and recruitment presentations. Finally in 1977, the USLA was established as a nonprofit organization under its current name.  

Today, there are now more than 100 chapters of USLA, each affiliated with local lifesaving services and beach patrols, and composed of employees of those organizations. The chapters are organized into 8 regions. Each USLA region has a president and its own board of directors.

The National Board of Directors of USLA is made up of delegates sent by the regions to biannual board of directors meetings. Within certain guidelines, regional representation on the board of directors is proportional to regional membership levels. The national president and other officers are elected every two years.

Throughout its history, USLA has been an organization of lifeguards, for lifeguards. The work of the organization has been accomplished by dedicated members volunteering their time to improve upon their profession and the safety of the beachgoing public. That work continues today.

To learn more about the USLA, go to usla.org.

V

Valsalva maneuver

A method for equalizing pressure in the middle ear by closing the mouth and pinching the nostril shut and then trying to exhale gently through the nose until the pressure in the ears is “equalized.” Doing this forces air from the throat (at ambient pressure) into the Eustachian tubes normally closed off from the ambient environment and have greater or lower pressure.

The Valsalva maneuver is named for Antonio Maria Valsalva, a 17th-century physician and anatomist from Bologna whose principal scientific interest was the human ear. He described the Eustachian tube and the maneuver to test its patency (openness). He also described the use of this maneuver to expel pus from the middle ear.

vasodilator

A drug that causes the blood vessels (especially the arterioles) to expand in an effort to lower blood pressure and reduce the heart’s workload. ACE inhibitors and nitrates are types of vasodilators.

vector

An arthropod (i.e., blackfly, mosquito, sandfly, tick, etc.) or animal that can spread disease through their bite.

vector-borne disease

An infection transmitted by the bite of an infected arthropod or animal. 

ventricles

The two lower chambers of the heart.

ventricular fibrillation (V-fib)

An abnormal heart rhythm characterized by disorganized electrical activity, which results in the quivering of the ventricles.

ventricular tachycardia (V-tach)

An abnormal heart rhythm characterized by rapid contractions of the ventricles.

victim

A person who has been endangered, harmed, or killed by an accident or other undesirable event.

vigilance

Close and continuous attention over time, watching for any pertinent change in environment or circumstances. These changes may be small, but their effect can be considerable. The speed and accuracy with which these changes are detected determines the timeliness of our decisions and actions.

Vigilance is greatly affected by our level of alertness; this is why lifeguards and others who maintain vigilance should not be overloaded or underloaded. Vigilance is negatively impacted by fatigue, stress, distractions, intrusions, dehydration, drug and alcohol use, illness, etc.

Complacency can also diminish vigilance. Complacency is over-confidence with the ease of a task or self-satisfaction with one’s performance to the point of overlooking potential hazardous conditions or practices within the environment.

visor

(1) A type of headgear to protect the eyes and face from the sun or overhead lighting that consists of a stiff peak projecting from the forehead and a strap that attaches it to the head. (2) Any type of surface or device that shades the eyes and face from the sun or other lighting, or that protects the face from objects.

vital capacity

The maximum amount of air a person can hold in the lungs or expel from the lungs after a maximum inhalation. It is equal to the sum of inspiratory reserve volume, tidal volume, and expiratory reserve volume. A person’s vital capacity can be measured by a wet or regular spirometer.

vomit

The contents of the stomach expelled through the mouth. It generally consists of recent food intake and acidic gastric secretions. Sometimes, vomit may include other substances of medical interest like blood or bile. In rare cases of intestinal obstruction, vomit can even contain feces.

The color of vomit can be significant. For example:

• Bright red in the vomit suggests bleeding from the esophagus.
• Dark red vomit with liver-like clots suggests profuse bleeding in the stomach, such as from a perforated ulcer.
• Coffee-ground-like vomit suggests less severe bleeding in the stomach, because the gastric acid has had time to change the blood’s composition.
• Yellow vomit suggests bile, indicating that the pyloric valve is open and bile is flowing into the stomach from the duodenum.

If the vomiting reflex continues for an extended period with no appreciable production, the condition is known as “dry heaves,” which can be painful and debilitating.

Vomiting caused by gastroenteritis can contain norovirus, which can spread to others through direct and indirect contact with infected vomit. To learn more about this, go to the CDC’s website on norovirus.

To learn more about vomiting, see below or check out Nausea and Vomiting for Children and Nausea and Vomiting for Adults both by Merck.

vomiting

The voluntary or involuntary, forceful expulsion of the contents of the stomach through the mouth. Vomiting is also known as barfing, puking, throwing up, up-chucking, etc. (Actually, vomiting has been described by many colorful and interesting euphenisms including eating backwards, liquid screaming, liquidating your assets, tossing a sidewalk pizza, talking to the seals, praying to the porcelain god, tasting the rainbow, blowing chunks, losing your lunch, tossing your cookies, heaving, hurling, Ralphing, spewing, yaking, etc.)

Nausea, an uneasiness of the stomach, often presents with vomiting. Nausea and vomiting are not diseases, but they are signs of many conditions, including:

• Alcohol abuse
• Brain tumor
• Some forms of cancer
• Concussion or brain injury
• Emotional stress (such as fear)
• Food poisoning
• Gallbladder disease
• Gastroparesis or slow stomach emptying (a condition that can be seen in people with diabetes)
• Heart attack
• Infections (such as the “stomach flu”), including gastroenteritis
• Medication-induced vomiting
• Motion sickness or seasickness
• Overeating
• Pregnancy, early stages (nausea occurs in approximately 50%-90% of all pregnancies; vomiting in 25%-55%)
• Psychological illnesses like bulimia
• A reaction to certain smells or odors
• Ingestion of toxins
• Ulcers

Usually, vomiting is harmless, but it can be a sign of a more serious condition, such as concussions, meningitis (infection of the membrane linings of the brain), intestinal blockage, appendicitis, and brain tumors. Vomit can also contain norovirus, which can be transmitted to others through direct and indirect contact.

To care for vomiting (regardless of the cause):

• If the patient is breathing but unconscious, place the patient on the side in recovery position so that fluids and vomit in the airway drain from the mouth and are not breathed into the lungs.
• Do not give the patient anything to eat or drink if the patient is unconscious or not fully alert.
• Even if the patient is alert, restrict the patient’s intake while he or she is vomiting:
  • Have the patient avoid solid food while vomiting or feeling nauseated.
  • Have the patient drink clear fluids, slowly at first.
  • If vomiting over a prolonged period, drink a rehydrating fluid like Pedialyte® or a sports beverage.

To learn more about vomiting, check out Nausea and Vomiting for Children and Nausea and Vomiting for Adults both by Merck.