Airway and Breathing
A patient overdosed on heroine and is unresponsive. He is cyanotic, has slow shallow respirations, and 80% oxygen saturation. The primary cause of the patients condition is inadequate:
Ventilation
Measure of the volume of blood circulated by the heart in 1 minute, calculated by the stroke volume x the heart rate.
Cardiac Output.
When assessing a conscious patient who overdosed on a drug, you should FIRST determine:
The type of medication ingested.
Seizures in children most often are the result of:
An abrupt rise in body temp.
In addition to oxygen, the MOST appropriate treatment for a patient with widespread full thickness burns would include:
Dry sterile dressings, warmth, rapid transport.
The MOST appropriate treatment for a semiconscious patient with slow, shallow respirations includes:
A nasopharyngeal airway and assisted ventilation via BVM.
A disorder where the heart loses part of its ability to effectively pump, usually as a result of damage to the heart muscle and usually resulting in a backup of fluid to the lungs.
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)
Unresponsiveness, shallow breathing, and constricted pupils are indicative of which type of drug overdose?
Narcotics.
A 3 year old child has sudden onset respiratory distress. The mother denies any recent illness or fever. What should you suspect?
Foreign body airway obstruction.
Following blunt force trauma to the anterior chest, a man presents with difficult breathing, JVD, absent breath sounds over the left side of the chest, and hypotension. What is this patients condition?
Tension pneumothorax.
An unresponsive apneic patient’s chest fails to rise after two ventilation attempts. You should:
Immediately proceed to chest compressions.
Swelling in the part of the body closest to the ground, a possible sign of congestive heart failure.
Dependent Edema.
A known diabetic female is found unresponsive. Her respirations are rapid and shallow, her skin is cool, pale, and diaphoretic, and her pulse is rapid and weak. What is the most likely cause of her condition?
Insulin overdose.
Following delivery of a newborn, the 21 year old mother is experiencing mild vaginal bleeding. You note that her heart rate has increased from 90 to 120 beats/min and she is diaphoretic. What should you do?
Administer oxygen, treat for shock, and massage uterus during transport.
An adult patient opens his eyes in response to painful stimuli, moans when you ask him questions, and pulls his arm away upon palpation. What is his GCS score?
8
Eye opening: 2
Verbal response: 2
Motor response: 4
During assessment of a trauma patient, you note massive facial injuries, weak radial pulses, and clammy skin. What should be your most immediate concern?
Potential airway obstruction.
The heart muscle.
Myocardium.
Why is a prolapsed umbilical cord dangerous?
It may cut off the baby’s oxygen supply.
What is the most common cause of shock in infants and children?
Infection.
A 40 year old man was hit in the nose during a fight. He has bruising under his left eye and a nosebleed. After standard precautions, what should you do?
Ensure he is sitting up and leaning forward.
What is the function of pulmonary surfactant?
Lubricates the alveolar walls and allows them to expand.
The return of a pulse and effective blood flow to the body in a patient who previously was in cardiac arrest.
Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC)
While triaging patients at an MCI, you encounter a 4 year old child who is breathing at a rate of 54 breaths/min. What should you do?
Tag the child immediately and continue triage.
While performing a visual inspection of a 30 year old active labor, you can see the umbilical cord at the vaginal opening. After providing oxygen, what should you do next?
Relieve pressure from the cord with gloved fingers.
A ruptured tympanic membrane is an example of which stage of blast injury?
Primary.