CHAPTER TWO: MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY IN EMS Medical terminology is the topic of this chapter of the course. While at first it seems boring, it actually involves information that is very important for every health professional to know about. There are terms related to body directions, planes, and body cavities that help you to know certain medical terms related to the human body. Most medical terms you will talk about in your job as an EMT are going to consist of prefixes, suffixes, and root words that together will help you understand what a given medical term relates to.
BODY DIRECTIONS AND PLANES In medical terms, there will often be some mention of a body part or symptom related to a certain body direction or body plane. You should know these directional and planar terms and should use them in your job as an EMT-I. These are the directional terms you should understand: •
Cranial or superior—this refers to anything related to the head of the body. Something that is superior to another thing in the body is directed more toward the head.
•
Caudal or inferior—this refers to anything toward the foot or away from the head. Caudal refers to the feet generally and not to the rump.
•
Ventral or anterior—this refers to anything that is closer to or located in the front of the body.
•
Dorsal or posterior—this refers to anything that is closer to or located in the back of the body.
•
Medial—this is anything that is toward the middle of the body. The chest is considered medial to the shoulders and arms.
•
Lateral—this is anything away from the middle of the body. The lateral collateral ligament is on the outside of the knee compared to the medial collateral ligament.
18
