Scene Size Up and Safety
What is the first priority when arriving at any emergency scene?
Scene safety.
What does AVPU stand for?
Alert, Verbal, Pain, Unresponsive.
What assessment tool helps an EMT investigate a patient's chief complaint through questions about onset, provocation, quality, radiation, severity, and time?
OPQRST.
What type of legal document records an EMS provider's assessment, findings, and patient care?
The patient care report, or PCR.
What does a pulse oximeter measure?
Peripheral oxygen saturation, or SpO₂
What two important details should an EMT determine about the patients during scene size-up?
The number of patients
whether additional resources are needed
MOI/NOI
c-spine
Which pulse site should an EMT assess in an unresponsive adult, and which is commonly assessed in an infant?
Carotid pulse in the adult and brachial pulse in the infant.
What is the primary purpose of a rapid full-body trauma assessment?
To identify injuries and important physical findings that were not detected during the primary assessment.
When calling another unit on the radio, who should you identify first?
The unit or person you are calling, followed by your own unit identification.
A patient involved in a high-speed collision has no visible injuries. Why should the EMT still be concerned?
A significant mechanism of injury may cause internal injuries that are not immediately apparent.
An EMT arrives at a vehicle crash and sees power lines hanging near the vehicle. What should the EMT do before approaching?
Establish a safe perimeter, remain clear of the wires, and request appropriate assistance.
An unconscious adult is breathing 12 times per minute, but the breaths are extremely shallow. Is this normal?
Nah
Why do we take vital signs more than once during a patient assessment?
We are looking for trending vital signs.
An EMT discovers important missing information after submitting a patient care report. How should the report be corrected?
Add a properly dated and timed addendum according to agency procedures, rather than altering the original report without an audit trail.
Jordan's favorite color
green
Three EMTs reach a vehicle containing four unresponsive patients at the bottom of a steep ravine. What additional resources should be requested?
Additional rescue personnel for safe access and extrication, along with sufficient EMS transport resources.
A trauma patient has snoring respirations, severe external bleeding, and an obvious ankle deformity. Which two immediate problems must be addressed before splinting?
Airway obstruction and life-threatening external bleeding. These are immediate threats to life.
Normal range for respiratory rate in adults
12-20
A partner tells you to record a blood pressure of 120/80 even though the actual reading was 92/58. Explain two reasons this is unacceptable.
It falsifies a legal medical record and could conceal clinically important hypotension, compromising care and damaging the report's credibility.
What is SAMPLE
signs/symptoms, allergies, medications, past pertinent hx, last oral intake, events
Police have secured a crash scene, but an EMT notices liquid leaking from a tractor-trailer with an unknown placard. What should the EMT do, and why?
Remain outside the potentially hazardous area, move to a safe location if needed, and request fire department (hazmat). Conditions can change, and a scene declared safe earlier may no longer be safe.
A motorcycle crash patient is unresponsive, breathing inadequately, has a weak pulse, and has significant bleeding from one leg. Explain the critical interventions and their priority during the initial assessment.
Control life-threatening hemorrhage immediately, manage the airway with appropriate cervical-spine precautions, assist ventilation with supplemental oxygen, assess circulation/perfusion, and arrange rapid transport. Perform these priorities simultaneously when personnel permit.
During transport, a trauma patient becomes confused, has cool clammy skin, and develops an increasingly rapid pulse. What should the EMT suspect, and what reassessment and management priorities follow?
Suspect worsening hypoperfusion or shock. Repeat the primary assessment, evaluate airway and breathing, identify or reassess bleeding, trend vital signs, reassess interventions, and expedite appropriate transport.
During a radio report, an EMT identifies the patient by name, uses unfamiliar abbreviations, and gives treatment information before explaining the chief complaint. Identify three communication problems and how to correct them.
Protect patient confidentiality by omitting unnecessary identifiers; use clear, standardized language without obscure abbreviations; and organize the report around the chief complaint, pertinent findings, vital signs, interventions, and response to care.
what is OPQRST
onset, provocation, quality, radiation/region, severity, time