Nervous System
This sensory-only nerve carries visual information from the retina to the brain, and testing it involves checking visual acuity with a Snellen chart.
Cranial Nerve II (Optic Nerve)
For a resting adult, a normal heart rate is defined as falling within this beats-per-minute range, with anything below classified as bradycardia and anything above as tachycardia.
60 to 100 beats per minute?
Before and after applying any splint to a fractured extremity, an EMT must always assess these three distal physiological parameters, commonly abbreviated as PMS.
What are Pulse, Motor, and Sensory functions? (Accept: CSM / Circulation, Sensory, Motor)
During the initial "global sorting" phase of a Mass Casualty Incident, an EMT yells out, "If you can hear my voice and are able to walk, please move to the designated safe area." These patients are immediately tagged with this color.
What is Green? (Accept: Minor)
Damage to this cranial nerve can lead to symptoms like vertigo, loss of balance, or sensorineural hearing loss.
Cranial Nerve VIII (Vestibulocochlear Nerve)
According to the American Heart Association, "normal" blood pressure in adults requires a systolic reading of less than 120 mmHg AND a diastolic reading of less than this number.
What is 80 mmHg?
Unlike a closed fracture where the skin remains intact, this type of fracture occurs when the broken bone breaks through the skin, creating an open wound with a high risk of infection.
What is an open fracture? (Accept: compound fracture)
Under the federal Incident Command System (ICS) structure, this single individual holds supreme authority at an incident scene and is responsible for establishing the overall strategic objectives.
What is the Incident Commander (IC)?
This massive nerve splits into three major branches—Ophthalmic, Maxillary, and Mandibular—to provide sensory coverage to the face and motor control for chewing.
Cranial Nerve V (Trigeminal Nerve)
While newborns breathe much faster, a normal, resting respiratory rate for a healthy adult typically falls within this range of breaths per minute.
12 to 20 breaths per minute?
This eponymously named palsy occurs due to an injury of the lower trunk ($C8-T1$ nerve roots) of the brachial plexus—often from a person catching themselves on a tree branch while falling—resulting in a classic "claw hand" deformity.
What is Klumpke's Palsy?
Under the standard adult START triage algorithm, if a non-walking patient is breathing spontaneously, an EMT must immediately count their respiratory rate; if that rate is greater than this many breaths per minute, they are tagged Red (Immediate).
What is 30?
Meaning "wanderer," this longest cranial nerve provides parasympathetic innervation to the heart, lungs, and digestive tract, and forms the motor limb of the gag reflex.
Cranial Nerve X (Vagus Nerve)
In a healthy adult without diabetes, a normal fasting blood glucose level is expected to fall within this range of milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) after an 8-hour fast. Just give me a number between this range.
What is 70 to 99 mg/dL? (Accept: Under 100 mg/dL)
While splinting a severely deformed extremity is usually done in the position of comfort, an EMT should make up to one attempt to manually realign a severely angulated joint fracture only if the patient presents with this critical distal physical finding.
What is a lack of a distal pulse? (Accept: pulselessness or compromised circulation/neurological status)
If a non-walking patient has a respiratory rate under 30 breaths per minute, the EMT next assesses perfusion and mental status; a patient who has a radial pulse but cannot follow simple commands (like "squeeze my hand") receives this color tag.
What is Red? (Accept: Immediate—since a failure to follow commands indicates altered mental status)
Special visceral afferent fibers of this nerve carry taste sensation from the circumvallate papillae on the posterior third of the tongue, housing their cell bodies in its inferior (petrosal) ganglion before synapsing in the solitary tract nucleus.
Cranial Nerve IX (Glossopharyngeal Nerve)
Below this SpO2 percentage would signify that a patient may need oxygen supplementation (nasal canula, non-rebreather, etc.)?
SpO2 of 94%
Extreme lateral distraction of the neck from the shoulder—such as from a motorcycle crash or a difficult birth—can rupture the upper trunk ($C5-C6$ nerve roots) of the brachial plexus, leading to this eponymously named palsy characterized by a "waiter's tip" limb position.
What is Erb's Palsy? (Accept: Erb-Duchenne Palsy)
Unlike adult START triage where an apneic patient is immediately tagged Black, the pediatric JumpSTART algorithm directs the rescuer to perform this specific, brief physical intervention if the child has a palpable pulse but is not breathing.
What is opening the airway and delivering 5 rescue breaths? (Accept: 5 rescue breaths)