| EMT-D | emergency medical technician providing basic life support or defibrillation |
|---|---|
| ILSS | integrated life support system; intraluminal somatostatin |
| LSS | life support station; lumbosacral spine |
| LSTAT | life support for trauma and transport |
| LSU | lactose-saccharose-urea [agar]; life support unit |
| life events | Occurrences in one's daily life, some of which act as stressors. (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| life expectancy | <epidemiology> Longevity, the average length of life of individuals in a population. (05 Dec 1998) |
| life instinct | The instinct of self-preservation and sexual procreation; the basic urge toward preservation of the species. Synonym: sexual instinct. (05 Mar 2000) |
| life stress | Events or experiences that produce severe strain, e.g., failure on the job, marital separation, loss of a love object. (05 Mar 2000) |
| life table | A representation of the probable years of survivorship of a defined population of subjects; since survivorship is changed by new methods of prevention or treatment, a diachronic study is commonly used because the main interest lies in the composite structure of the current population. (In the summarizing technique used to describe the pattern of mortality and survival in a population, survivors to age x are denoted by the symbol lx and the expectation of life at age x is denoted by the symbol x. (05 Mar 2000) |
| life tables | Summarizing techniques used to describe the pattern of mortality and survival in populations. These methods can be applied to the study not only of death, but also of any defined endpoint such as the onset of disease or the occurrence of disease complications. (12 Dec 1998) |
| ambulatory care | Medical care (including diagnosis, observation, treatment and rehabilitation) provided on an outpatient basis. Ambulatory care is given to persons who are not confined to a hospital but rather are ambulatory and, literally, are able to ambulate or walk about. (A well-baby visit is considered ambulatory care even though the baby is not walking). (12 Dec 1998) |
| ambulatory care facilities | Those facilities which administer health services to individuals who do not require hospitalization or institutionalization. (12 Dec 1998) |
| ambulatory care information systems | Information systems, usually computer-assisted, designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information for planning, organizing, directing, and controlling administrative activities associated with the provision and utilization of ambulatory care services and facilities. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cancer care facilities | Institutions specializing in the care of cancer patients. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cardiac care facilities | Institutions specializing in the care of patients with heart disorders. (12 Dec 1998) |
| care | In medicine and public health, a general term for the application of knowledge to the benefit of a community or individual. (05 Mar 2000) |
| care, ambulatory | Medical care (including diagnosis, observation, treatment and rehabilitation) provided on an outpatient basis. Ambulatory care is given to persons who are not confined to a hospital but who are ambulatory and literally able to ambulate, to walk about. (A well-baby visit is considered ambulatory care even though the baby is not walking). (12 Dec 1998) |
| care, managed | Any system that manages healthcare delivery in order to control costs. (12 Dec 1998) |
| care proxy, health | A health care proxy is one form of advance medical directive. Advance medical directives preserve the person's right to accept or reject a course of medical treatment even after that person becomes mentally or physically incapacitated to the point of being unable to communicate those wishes. There are two basic forms of advance directives: 1. A living will, in which the person outlines specific treatment guidelines that are to be followed by health care providers. 2. A health care proxy (also called a power of attorney for health-care decision-making) in which the person designates a trusted individual to make medical decisions in the event that he or she becomes too incapacitated to make such decisions. Advance directive requirements vary greatly from one jurisdiction to another and should therefore be drawn up in consultation with an attorney who is familiar with the laws of the particular jurisdiction. (This entry is based upon material from the National MS Society). (12 Dec 1998) |