Your Role in EMS
What must you do before providing care?
Obtain consent.
- Expressed: conscious person who understands your questions, and gives you permission
- Implied: law assumes that if the person could respond, he/she would agree to care
Bacteria requires a Host to survive, True or False?
False.
-Bacteria can live outside of the body and do not depend on other organisms for life.
- Viruses depend on other organisms to live...need a Host.
What are the 3 C's
Check, Call, Care
If the person is conscious w/ no life-threatening injuries, what do you do first?
Interview
Name 4 common signs of life
Consciousness, effective/normal breathing, circulation, skin characteristics
What is the EMS System?
Network of community resources, including police, fire and medical personnel, and you.
(Begins with recognition...EMS dispatcher receives a call and uses information to determine what help is needed...Personnel are dispatched...Early arrival increases the chance of survival)
Explain the difference between direct and indirect contact.
Direct - blood or other fluids pass directly into your body through breaks/cuts/lining in mouth/nose/eyes
Indirect - (common cold) droplets in the air we breathe...Use of shared objects (utensils, doorknobs, pencils, etc....Often not adequate enough to spread the disease
Name 2 questions when referring to the Check step in Check-Call-Care
- Is it Safe?
- Is Immediate Danger Involved?
- What Happened?
- How Many People are Involved?
- Is Anyone Else Available to Help?
- What's Wrong?
Following the interview, and obtaining consent what is next when addressing a conscious individual
Head-to-Toe check
What does ABC stand for?
Airway, Breathing, Circulation
What are the 4 basic steps of your role in the EMS System?
1. Recognize that an Emergency Exists
2. Decide to Act
3. Activate the EMS System
4. Give Care Until Help Takes over
Provide 2 "standard precautions" or prevention techniques regarding disease transmission
-Avoid contact
-Use protective CPR breathing barriers
-Use barriers (disposable gloves, masks, etc.)
-Prior to barriers, put cover any cuts, scrapes, wounds, etc.
-No eat/drink or touch mouth/nose/eyes when giving care or before washing hands post care
-Avoid handling personal items
-Do not touch contaminated or blood soiled objects
-Put PPE items in your First Aid kit
-Clean hands and body thoroughly when finished
****If came into contact with fluids, let EMS personnel know
What is the most important action you can take?
Call - calling 9-1-1
Whether its first or after providing some immediate care
What are some barriers with interacting with a conscious individual?
Language; shock; medical condition (larynx [voice box removal, breathes through stoma]); Scared/frightened
A blocked airway is not life-threatening, True or False
False
Name 3 of the 4 reasons to stop giving care?
1. See obvious signs of life
2. The scene becomes unsafe
3. Another trained responder arrives
4. You are too exhausted to continue
PPE stands for
Personal Protective Equipment
What is likely the reason for a Call first situation?
Cardiac emergencies
- Care first is likely related to breathing emergencies.
If conducting a Head-to-Toe check on a child, and he/she is frightened what can you do?
Reverse the process, Toe-to-Head
Explain or demonstrate the
Head-tilt/Chin-lift
-Push down on the forehead, while pulling up on the bony part of the chin with 2-3 fingers
Explain the Good Samaritan Laws
Good Samaritan Law - Protect people against claims of negligence when they give emergency care in good faith without accepting anything in return
- Protect those who act the same way, “reasonable and prudent person” would if in the same situation
- helps prevent the barrier regarding a fear of Being Sued
When cleaning a spill, ensure you use what to clean up the area
- disposable gloves and other PPE
- absorbent materials
- Disinfectant
Name all 5 moves
What is Shock?
Condition in which the circulatory system fails to deliver enough oxygen-rich blood to the body’s tissues and vital organs
- Brain, heart, and lungs begin to fail in working properly...Triggers signals known as shock
- injury /illness → disrupt to normal body functions → body is unable to adjust → body unable to meet demand for oxygen because blood fails to circulate adequately = shock
Look, Listen, Feel has to do with the Breathing component of ABC's, explain the process
Look, Listen, Feel - 10 seconds (no more)
Look - person’s chest clearly rising/falling
Listen - escaping air
Feel - for air against the side of your face, 10 seconds (no more)
If CPR is needed, not to be delayed