Cardiovascular Emergencies Flashcards
What’s the difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems?
Sympathetic takes care of fight or flight
Parasympathetic takes care of rest and digestion
What are coronary arteries?
Arteries that supply the heart with blood
What are the four parts of blood?
Red blood cells
White blood cells
Platelets
Plasma
What are the numbers in blood pressure and what do they mean?
Top:
Systolic blood pressure, shows the maximum pressure from left ventricle
Bottom:
Diastolic blood pressure, pressure against the arteries at rest
What is ischemia?
decreased blood flow, main cause of chest pain
What is atherosclerosis?
The buildup of calcium and cholesterol
What is a thromboembolism?
A blood clot floating through the blood vessels
What is acute coronary syndrome?
A variety of conditions that stop or severely reduce blood-flow to the heart
What is angina pectoris? And what is the difference between stable and unstable
A condition where the heart needs more oxygen than it is receiving
Stable
Occurs in response to activity that increases demand on the heart
Unstable
Occurs when there is no outside force causing a need for more oxygen
Name 5 signs and symptoms of AMI
-Weakness, nausea, sweating
-Chest pain, discomfort, or pressure
-Lower jaw, arm, back, abdomen, or neck pain
-Irregular heartbeat and syncope (fainting)
-Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
-Nausea/vomiting
-Pink, frothy sputum
-Sudden death
What is asystole?
Absence of all heart electrical activity
What is cardiogenic shock?
Condition where your heart lacks power to force enough blood through the circulatory system
Whats the systolic pressure that causes a hypertensive emergency?
180 mm Hg
What is aortic aneurysm? And what is the primary cause?
weakness in the wall of the aorta
mostly caused by uncontrolled hypertension
When oxygen saturation is less than 95%, what should you do?
apply oxygen via nasal cannula at 4L/min