Pump, Pipes, And Fluid

Years ago, I was taught about shock using the pump, pipes, and fluid analogy. The pump is the heart, the pipes are the vessels, and the fluid is the blood. There is a certain similarity between the plumbing in my house and the “plumbing” in my body.

These are wonderfully simple and represent complex physiological mechanisms when discussing shock. EMT classes in the days of old were taught with concepts like this. But if you are still teaching with just these concepts—and not the proper physiology—you aren’t teaching enough.