What does life support mean?

Definitions for life support
life sup·port

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word life support.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. life-support system, life supportnoun

    equipment that makes life possible in otherwise deadly environmental conditions

    "the astronauts relied on their life-support systems"

  2. life-support system, life supportadjective

    medical equipment that assists or replaces important bodily functions and so enables a patient to live who otherwise might not survive

    "the patient is on life support"

  3. life-supportadjective

    of or pertaining to equipment or methods used to sustain life

Wiktionary

  1. life supportnoun

    An artificial system designed to provide oxygen in an environment that lacks oxygen.

  2. life supportnoun

    A machine that keeps the body of an ill or injured person alive.

Wikipedia

  1. Life support

    Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform basic and advanced life support procedures; however, basic life support is sometimes provided at the scene of an emergency by family members or bystanders before emergency services arrive. In the case of cardiac injuries, cardiopulmonary resuscitation is initiated by bystanders or family members 25% of the time. Basic life support techniques, such as performing CPR on a victim of cardiac arrest, can double or even triple that patient's chance of survival. Other types of basic life support include relief from choking (which can be done by using the Heimlich maneuver), staunching of bleeding by direct compression and elevation above the heart (and if necessary, pressure on arterial pressure points and the use of a manufactured or improvised tourniquet), first aid, and the use of an automated external defibrillator. The purpose of basic life support (abbreviated BLS) is to save lives in a variety of different situations that require immediate attention. These situations can include, but are not limited to, cardiac arrest, stroke, drowning, choking, accidental injuries, violence, severe allergic reactions, burns, hypothermia, birth complications, drug addiction, and alcohol intoxication. The most common emergency that requires BLS is cerebral hypoxia, a shortage of oxygen to the brain due to heart or respiratory failure. A victim of cerebral hypoxia may die within 8–10 minutes without basic life support procedures. BLS is the lowest level of emergency care, followed by advanced life support and critical care.

ChatGPT

  1. life support

    Life support refers to the treatments and techniques performed in emergency situations, which are designed to support and maintain life when vital body functions, such as heartbeat, breathing, or kidney function, are not working adequately or failing. This typically involves the use of machines or medical substances to artificially replace or assist these functions. Life support can also refer to various medical interventions such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), artificial ventilation or nutrition, kidney dialysis, among others.

Wikidata

  1. Life support

    Life support in medicine is a broad term that applies to any therapy used to sustain a patient's life while they are critically ill or injured, as part of intensive-care medicine. There are many therapies and techniques that may be used by clinicians to achieve the goal of sustaining life. Some examples include: ⁕Feeding tube ⁕Total parenteral nutrition ⁕Mechanical ventilation ⁕Heart/Lung bypass ⁕Urinary catheterization ⁕Dialysis ⁕Cardiopulmonary resuscitation ⁕Defibrillation ⁕Artificial pacemaker ⁕Life extension ⁕Life support system for human spaceflight. These techniques are applied most commonly in the Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit and, Operating Rooms. As various life support technologies have improved and evolved they are used increasingly outside of the hospital environment. For example a patient who requires a ventilator for survival are commonly discharged home with these devices. Another example includes the now ubiquitous presence of Automated external defibrillator in public venues which allow lay people to deliver life support in a prehospital environment. The ultimate goals of life support depend on the specific patient situation. Typically life support is used to sustain life while the underlying injury or illness is being treated or evaluated for prognosis. Life support techniques may also be used indefinitely if the underlying medical condition cannot be corrected but a reasonable quality of life can still be expected.

Suggested Resources

  1. life support

    Read the full text of the Life Support poem by Kurt Philip Behm on the Poetry.com website.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of life support in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of life support in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of life support in a Sentence

  1. Delta BingoCEO Cam Johnston:

    If you cover it, you might as well take away someones life support.

  2. Chris Hansen:

    This is the first suit we've designed in about 40 years, what you saw today was a prototype of the pressure garment. The life support system is back in a lab in Houston.

  3. Brad Fauts:

    [ They ] immediately put Keila Lino on a ventilator and from there Keila Lino just went downhill, by that evening, Keila Lino was on life support.

  4. Nick Clegg:

    I totally rule out any arrangements with the SNP — in the same way I rule out any arrangements with UKIP — because there is no meeting point for me with one party that basically wants to pull our country to bits and another party that wants us to pull out of the EU, i would never recommend to the Liberal Democrats that we help establish a government which is basically on a life support system, where Alex Salmond could pull the plug any time he wants.

  5. Vadim Ghirda/AP:

    The municipal ‘ life support system ’ of the capital is operating normally. Currently, 30 % of consumers are without electricity. Due to emergency shutdowns, alexander Ermochenko/Reuters Kyiv residents have water and heat.

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"life support." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 May 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/life+support>.

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