BLS exam Flashcards
What are the two key components of successful cardiac arrest care?
Early high-quality CPR and rapid defibrillation
How do emergency telecommunicators increase rates of bystander CPR and improve outcomes?
Assisting the public by giving instructions on CPR which allow the bystander to perform high-quality CPR and early defibrillation
How can mobile phone apps and text messages be useful in the time of an emergency?
By locating members who are trained in CPR and by helping rescuers to locate the nearest AED
How can bystanders perform CPR without training?
They can perform chest compressions and seek guidance from the emergency telecommunicators.
What does ROSC stand for?
Return of Spontaneous circulation
Which age is considered an adult?
After puberty
What are some variables CPR skills rely on?
Level of training, experience, and confidence (rescuer proficiency); type of victim (child vs. adult). Available equipment and other rescuers
When would you use hands-only CPR?
When there is a person with not a lot of training and no equipment but witnesses someone that has a cardiac arrest
When would you use 30:2 CPR?
A person who is trained in BLS and witnesses somebody go under cardiac arrest
What are the main components of CPR?
Chest compressions, airway and breathing
What are the steps for CPR?
Verify scene safety
Check for responsiveness→ Shout are you okay? If there is no responsiveness, Tell someone to call 911 and get an AED
Check for pulse and respiration
Normal breathing and pulse: monitor patient until help arrives
No breathing but pulse: give rescue breaths every 6 seconds or 10 breaths/ min; check pulse every 2 minutes; start CPR if no pulse; administer naloxone if there is an opioid overdose
No breathing or only gasping, no pulse: start CPR (30:2)
AED arrives and use: check rhythm
Rhythm: give shock and resume CPR
No shock: resum CPR until AED tells you to allow rhythm check
Continue monitoring the patient until help arrives or when patient starts to move
What are agonal gasps?
They are a sign of cardiac arrest and they are irregular and slow breathing.
Where would you feel a pulse on an adult?
Cartoid pulse: locate the trachea and slide the fingers into a groove and check for pulse for no more than 10 seconds but atleast 5 seconds
What would happen if you keep interrupting chest compressions?
The lower the supply to the organs and the brain
Where should you place the victim when performing chest compressions?
On a firm hard surface
What is the compression to ventilation ratio for adults?
30:2
What is the universal compression rate?
100 to 120/min. It is the same for all cardiac arrest victims.
What is the compression depth for adults?
At least 2 inches
Why is chest recoil important?
It allows for the blood to flow back into the heart; do not lean on the chest between compressions
What is CCF?
It is the chest compression fraction and it is the proportion of time that rescuers perform chest compressions during CPR
Where do you position your hands on the chest during chest compressions?
The center of their chest; the lower half of the breastbone (sternum). Place the heel of your hand on top of the other hand. Straighten your arms and you should be directly over the victim.
What do you do when a pregnant women’s uterus is compressing the large blood vessels in the abdomen?
LUD: Lateral uterine displacement; manually moving the uterus to the patient’s left to relieve the pressure on the large blood vessels
What do you do when a pregnant woman is revived?
Place her on her left side so that improves blood flow to her heart and to the baby
What are two mistakes to avoid when doing a head tilt-chin lift?
Avoid pressing deeply into the soft tissue under the chin- it might block the airway
Do not close the victim’s mouth completely
How do you perform the jaw thrust?
Position yourself at the victim’s head and place one hand at the side of the patient’s head and place your fingers under the angle of the patient’s lower jaw and lift with both hands to push the jaw forward
What is the positioning when using pocket masks?
Place the mask on the patient’s face (bridge of the nose as a guide)
Place your index finger and thumb on the mask and push down and place the rest of the fingers on the face not the eyes
With the other hand place your thumb on the chin and life the jaw up
Press firmly and deliver a breath over a second and note if the chest rose
How do you position yourself during 1 rescuer bag mask technique?
Use the thumb and index finger of one hand to make a c on the side of the mask and press down
Use the remaining fingers to lift the jaw and squeeze the bag while watching for the chest to rise. Deliver each breath over a second
How you perform two rescuer bag mask technique?
Resucer 1 is positioned over the victim and uses the technique from 1 rescuer bag mask technique with both hands and the other rescuer squeezes the bag
ow do you perform ventilation with someone with a stoma or tracheostomy tube?
Position the bag mask over the stoma or tube. If the chest doesn’t rise, then connect the bag mask device to teh tracheostomy tub. Another option, close the victim’s mouth while providing breaths over the stoma or tracheostomy tube.
During 2 rescuer CPR, when should the first rescuer switch with the second rescuer?
Every 5 cycles or 2 minutes and you should take less than 5 seconds to switch
How should a team with 2 or more rescuers operate?
The first rescuer checks the victim and orders someone to call 911 and get an AED. Rescuer 2 provides breaths. They should switch every 5 cycles in order for
What is a CPR coach?
A CPR coach is a person who coordinates the start of CPR< improve the quality of chest compressions by giving feedback, they set the midrange targets, give feedback about ventilation rate and volume and communicates with the team to minimize the length of pauses in compressions
Why having a CPR coach is beneficial for the team?
There is higher quality CPR, higher CCF, and shorter pause durations and they allow the team leader to focus on other aspects.
What does the AED do?
Identify abnormal heart rhythms as shockable or non shockable
What is defibrillation?
Stopping abnormal heart rhythm by using electrical shocks
What is a palpable pulse?
A pulse felt by the rescuer