4. Assault/Sexual Assault/Stun Gun - ABD

Question 1

POSSIBLY DANGEROUS Body Area

Answer 1

Abdomen, amputation (excluding finger/toe), anus, back, chest (breathing normally), genitalia, groin, head (alert), hip/pelvis, leg (upper-obvious deformity), neck (breathing normally)

Question 2

NOT DANGEROUS Body Area

Answer 2

Ankle, arm (upper)*, collar bone (clavicle), elbow , finger, foot, forearm, hand, knee, leg (lower), leg (upper-w/o deformity), shoulder, tailbone (coccyx), toe, wrist

Question 3

Problem Suffixes

Answer 3

A: Assault
S: Sexual Assault
T: Stun Gun

Question 4

SERIOUS Hemorrhage

Answer 4

Uncontrolled bleeding (spurting or pouring) from any area, or anytime a caller reports “serious” bleeding

Question 5

NON-RECENT

Answer 5

Six hours or more have passed since the incident or injury occurred (w/o priority symptoms)

Question 6

Rule 1

Answer 6

Preservation of evidence in sexual assault situation may be of much greater eventual importance to the patient than initial response and treatment of physical injuries

Question 7

Rule 2

Answer 7

Sexual assault patients often require a very high level of compassionate care

Question 8

Rule 3

Answer 8

The head-tilt is the only recognized method of airway control in the PAI dispatch environment. When presented with a TRAUMA patient described as not alert with INEFFECTIVE BREATHING, the EMD should protect life over limb and open the airway.

Question 9

Rule 4

Answer 9

If a spinal injury is suspected in a breathing patient and PAIs are not necessary, PDIs may be enhanced by encouraging the patient not to move and by advising the rescuer to use his/her hands to stabilize the patient’s head and neck in the positon found.

Question 10

Rule 5

Answer 10

Direct pressure on the wound should be avoided in the presence of visible fractured bone or foreign objects.

Question 11

Axiom 1

Answer 11

Assault complaints are generally 3rd party calls and are often received by police dispatch first.

Question 12

Axiom 2

Answer 12

On certain Protocols (3, 4, 7, 17, 27, etc.) an arrest may have been caused by extremely SERIOUS hemorrhage. In these cases, controlling the bleeding before initiating CPR may increase patient survival.

Question 13

Axiom 3

Answer 13

When a problem is NON-RECENT, the presence of current priority symptoms is the issue of most concern, not the location of the injuries per se.

Question 14

Axiom 4

Answer 14

Medical Dispatch should always try to obtain complete information. Even if law enforcement personnel initially request “paramedics”, response should be driven by specific priority problems (see SEND protocol).