Anatomy
This is the anatomical region directly posterior to the mouth that is often required to be secured before breaths are given.
What is the oropharynx?
Gas and nutrient exchange occur in the alveoli via this passive process.
Urticaria, along with itching and airway swelling points to what respiratory emergency?
What is anaphylaxis?
During your primary assessment, you successfully jaw-thrust your patient. After confirming the airway is clear, you tried to insert an OPA, but the patient gags viciously. What is an alternative method of securing the patient's airway?
Take out OPA, assess for contraindications of NPA, insert NPA bevel towards septum and properly lubed.
This point of care device (POT) measures the percentage of hgB saturated with oxygen.
What is a pulse oximeter?
This structure is an anatomical "landmark" that separates the upper and lower airways.
What is the larynx?
Even though a patient may be ventilating adequately at a correct rate, they can still show signs of hypoperfusion. Why?
The patient can have poor respiration, which is a separate process from ventilation.
A common sign of RSV, or the Respiratory Syncytial Virus, is dehydration. A tell-tale indication of RSV caused by dehydration is?
What is sunken fontanels?
You arrive on scene to a patient and assess that they have no adequate, identifiable breathing pattern. When documenting your patient conditions, you should note that the patient has this breathing pattern.
What is ataxic breathing?
An NRB delivers up to this percentage of oxygen.
What is 90%?
At what point does the lower airway bifurcate (split into two) into the lungs?
What is the carina? (or junction at trachea to bronchi)
Both are a part of the oxygenation process, distinguish the difference between internal vs external respiration.
External respiration occurs first, during which nutrients and gases (O2 and CO2) are exchanged between the alveoli and the surrounding blood. Internal respiration occurs next, during which O2 and nutrients are delivered to the remaining tissue of the body and waste are carried away.
These two signs are indicative of emphysema (a COPD).
What is barrel chest and pursed lip breathing?
As you obtain the SAMPLE history from the wife of a 67 year old patient, you learn that the patient has a history of CHF, which explains why the patient preferred sitting as the position of comfort and the rales/crackles you previously ausculted. Because you're super knowledgable about the airway and its pathophysiology, which respiratory condition does the patient most likely have?
What is pulmonary edema?
This is the name of the bag on an NRB that must be prefilled with oxygen before being placed on a patient.
What is a reservoir?
Considering how the body systems work in tandem to achieve a single goal, what is the structure that generates the autonomic process that is breathing and respiration.
What is the medulla oblongata?
Carbon monoxide is notorious for being a silent killer. It's invisible to the eye and has no smell. Its flu-like symptoms are also easy to be brushed off by afflicted individuals. How does carbon monoxide affect respiration?
CO has 240 times more affinity for hgB than oxygen does, so essentially it's just way better at musical chairs and it prevents our tissue and cells from getting the oxygen it needs.
Many irregular breath patterns, such as Cheyenne-Stokes respiration and Biot's breathing, are indicative of neurological issues. However, Kussmaul's breathing are commonly indicative of these types of injuries instead of pointing directly to neurological issues.
What are metabolic conditions? (metabolic acidosis, diabetic ketoacidosis, etc. Patient will have fruity breath)
Suppose that a patient fell from a height of 20 ft, and you somehow knew that the patient suffered a massive phrenic nerve (controls the diaphragm) injury. What process of breathing would you most likely suspect to be compromised?
What is ventilation?
A suction device has different tips, the ones we used in class are called the rigid tip catheter, aka the yankauer suction tip. What suction tip is best for infants and children?
What is tonsil tip catheter?
You get a call and arrive on scene to a 5th grade elementary school classroom. As you approach your patient and form a general impression in your head, you notice the patient is seated in a tripod position. As you get closer, you notice the patient has drooling. After assessing lung sounds and noticing stridor, you remember your days of being an EMT student with the UCD fire department, during which you learned about the condition that is currently exhibited by the patient, which is caused by inflammation of which respiratory structure? Also, describe the function of this structure.
What is the epiglottis (epiglottitis)? The epiglottis is a tiny flap of cartilage that closes during swallowing to prevent food and water from entering the larynx.
You're hiking with your friend up Mt. Everest. At one point, your friend complains of dyspnea. As far as you know, your friend does not have any medical conditions that may contribute or lead to their dyspnea. However, it suddenly dawns on you that you're currently at a high altitude where the atmospheric pressure is lower. How might this be the cause of your friend's dyspnea?
Because inspiration relies on the pressure between the atmosphere and your lungs, a lower difference, such as in the case of high altitudes, means a lower physical amount of air is being moved into your lungs.
A patient with pulmonary edema may exhibit rales/crackles as abnormal breath sounds, while another patient with pneumonia may exhibit rhonchi. Describe IN DETAIL the difference between rales and rhonchi and why the two patients with each condition would have the respective abnormal lung sound.
Rales/crackles occur when there is a build up of fluid in the chest, whereas rhonchi occurs when there is a build up of mucus in the lower airways. Pulmonary edema is caused by fluid backup from the heart, thus causing rales/crackles. Pneumonia leads to mucus production, thus producing rhonchi.
You are assessing a 66-year-old man who has emphysema and reports worsened SOB. He is confused, has a heart rate of 120 beats/min, and has an oxygen saturation of 83%. Which of the following assessment findings should concern you the most?
What is confusion?
The measuring of ETCO2 levels (end tidal CO2) in graphical form is?
What is capnography?