Adapted from the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, University at

Buffalo, State University of New York

Case Study #1Lost in the Desert!

Patient: Mark

Basic Background/Vitals:• 35 years of age• Caucasian• body weight = 70 kg• height = 178 cm

Mark’s Case:7 AM July 13th • Mark starts out on a 3-hour drive across the desert on

US 95 from Yuma, Arizona to Blythe, California.

• Expected to be a very hot July day.

• Mark called his fiancée just before he left, informing her he would be arriving in Blythe around 11 AM where she was waiting for him.

• When Mark failed to arrive by 12 noon, his fiancée became nervous and called the highway patrol.

• Unfortunately, the area Mark was traveling through is so remote, cell phones are useless.

12:30 PM July 13th

• Search and Rescue Officer Maria Arroyo reports finding an abandoned car on the side of the road matching the description provided by Mark’s fiancée.

• She notes that the car has a damaged grill and radiator.

• She also notices shoe prints leading into the desert toward some low mountains in the distance.

• Officer Arroyo immediately calls her base for helicopter assistance, consults her GPS, and provides the exact coordinates.

3:00 PM July 13th

• Local radio station reports temperature at 105° F in the shade with a relative humidity of 5%.

• From a helicopter, paramedic Henry McAlister reports seeing a shirtless, hatless man wandering in the desert.

• Upon landing the helicopter and confronting the man, the crew found him conscious but clearly delirious.

• In fact, the man was unable to identify himself. It wasn’t until Henry located the man’s driver’s license that it was confirmed this man was indeed Mark.

Mark’s Symptoms

• weak, nauseous, disoriented, and complained of a headache

• blood pressure = 70/50

• Mark was NOT sweating despite the oppressive heat

• body temperature = 105° F

• Mark’s face and back were VERY red

Now, refer to the question sheet you are aboutto receive.