Airway Management
Just like helping your Valentine breathe easier after a surprise bouquet, this basic maneuver opens the airway in patients without suspected spinal injury.
What is the head-tilt, chin-lift?
Just like choosing the right Valentine, this term means selecting how a medication enters the body (oral, inhaled, IM, etc.).
What is route of administration?
Just like Cupid answers love calls, this part of the EMS system receives 911 calls and sends help your patient’s way.
What is dispatch (communications center)?
This Valentine-aged group is defined as birth to 1 year and is known for rapid growth and total dependence on caregivers.
What is infancy?
Just like Cupid’s first impression, this is the very first step in patient assessment where you check scene safety and determine the number of patients.
What is scene size-up?
This airway adjunct is reserved for unconscious patients with no gag reflex and keeps the tongue from breaking your patient’s heart by blocking the airway.
What is an oropharyngeal airway (OPA)?
Before giving any medication, EMTs must follow the “Five Rights.” This one makes sure Cupid doesn’t deliver meds to the wrong person.
What is the right patient?
Before you ever meet your Valentine patient, this level of care provides instructions over the phone, like CPR guidance.
What is Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD)?
Your toddler Valentine is exploring everything (including cabinets). This developmental stage typically ranges from ages 1–3.
What is toddlerhood?
Before you steal your patient’s heart, this rapid assessment determines airway, breathing, circulation, and identifies life threats.
What is the primary assessment?
For patients who are still awake and feeling the love (with an intact gag reflex), this adjunct can be placed after sizing from nose to earlobe.
What is a nasopharyngeal airway (NPA)?
When chest pain makes hearts ache on Valentine’s Day, this medication is given to help prevent clot formation in suspected cardiac patients.
What is aspirin?
This document is your EMS love letter to the hospital, detailing assessment findings, treatments, and patient response.
What is a Patient Care Report (PCR)?
These school-age Valentines (approximately 6–12 years old) begin developing logical thinking and peer relationships.
What is the school-age stage?
After life threats are addressed, this Valentine-style conversation gathers SAMPLE history and OPQRST details.
What is the focused history and physical exam (secondary assessment)?
Before giving ventilations or placing an airway adjunct, EMTs must sweep away this heartbreak from the airway using suction.
What are blood, vomit, secretions, or other foreign material?
If your Valentine can’t catch their breath due to bronchoconstriction, this inhaled medication helps open the airways and restore the love of oxygen.
What is albuterol?
These special orders allow EMTs to provide certain treatments without direct physician contact — because sometimes love (and medicine) needs standing approval.
What are standing orders (protocols)?
During this “puppy love” stage, teens experience rapid physical changes, emotional swings, and increased risk-taking behaviors.
What is adolescence?
Your patient says they feel “fluttery.” This Valentine vital sign measures oxygen levels and helps determine how much love (O₂) they’re getting.
What is pulse oximetry (SpO₂)?
Your apneic Valentine still has a pulse. After inserting an OPA and sealing your BVM, EMT standards say you should deliver breaths at this romantic rhythm.
What is one breath every 5–6 seconds (10–12 breaths per minute)?
Your patient is unresponsive with slow respirations and pinpoint pupils — a heartbreakingly classic opioid overdose. This medication is your lifesaving Valentine, reversing respiratory depression.
What is naloxone (Narcan)?
Your Valentine patient requests transport to a facility farther away than the closest appropriate hospital. After explaining risks, they still insist. This form protects everyone’s hearts legally.
What is informed consent / refusal or destination choice documentation?
Your senior Valentine may experience decreased skin elasticity, slower reaction times, and chronic illness. This life stage typically begins around age 65.
What is older adulthood (geriatric stage)?
Your Valentine patient is stable with a medical complaint. EMT standards say reassess vital signs at this romantic interval.
What is every 15 minutes?