The Plot Thickens
For a responsive medical patient, this provides the most important information.
What is the patient’s medical history?
In SAMPLE, the letter A stands for this.
What is “What made you call 911 this evening?”
Monitoring whether blood pressure is rising and pulse is dropping over time is called this.
What is trending?
A two-way radio at a fixed site is called this.
What is a base station?
An EMT’s “sixth sense” is best described as this.
What is clinical judgment?
These three physical exam techniques must be mastered by EMTs.
What are observation, palpation, and auscultation?
This question best gathers the patient’s chief complaint.
What is “What made you call 911 this evening?”
After assisting a chest-pain patient with nitroglycerin, determining whether it worked occurs during this assessment phase.
What is reassessment?
This device receives and amplifies a signal over long distances.
What is a repeater?
When arriving at a house fire with a trapped child, this should be done before acting.
What is size up the scene?
When abdominal pain is localized, the EMT should palpate the painful area at this point.
What is last?
When asking about pertinent past history, this question best explores the patient’s background medical problems.
What is “Have you been having any medical problems?”
Trending information helps the receiving nurse evaluate this.
What is whether the patient is improving?
This is not a principle of proper radio usage in EMS.
What is speaking as quickly as possible?
When a vehicle is on fire, the EMT should ensure safety by doing this.
What is remain a safe distance until the fire is out?
When caring for an unconscious trauma patient from a crash, checking the vehicle for a bent steering wheel or starred windshield helps identify this.
What is mechanism of injury?
In EMS, mental status refers to this.
What is the patient’s level of awareness of surroundings?
When reassessing a patient for continued vaginal bleeding, the EMT should first explain what needs to be done in this manner.
What is in a reassuring tone?
A radio report to the receiving facility should be concise because the emergency department needs this.
What is quick and accurate information about the patient’s condition?
A bullet from a handgun is classified as this type of velocity impact.
What is medium velocity?
In the emergency department, physicians often have time for this, while EMTs focus on limited resources and immediate threats.
What is making a diagnosis?
Heuristics are useful because they can do this to the diagnostic process.
What is speed it up?
If a patient deteriorates during any later assessment step, the EMT should return to this assessment.
What is the primary assessment?
A verbal report at the hospital is needed even after a radio report because the nurse may need to do this before reading the written report.
What is perform critical interventions?
The correct placement of a blood pressure cuff should cover this portion of the upper arm.
What is two-thirds of the upper arm?
You arrive at a motor vehicle collision on a dark rural road. There is a fuel odor, one patient appears unconscious, and bystanders are moving around the scene. Before focusing on detailed treatment, identify the EMT priority sequence that protects rescuers and addresses immediate life threats.
What is perform scene size-up, ensure scene safety, establish a danger zone and traffic warning, determine mechanism of injury, complete the