Ch. 14: Spine Boarding Flashcards
How do you perform a primary survey?
- LOC: AVPU
- Airway: remove face mask and access
- Sx3
- Head and ears: look for blood and CSF
Perform secondary survey:
Head to toe exam
Signs of a spine injury (9):
- Neck or back pain
- Radiating pain into extremities
- Paresthesia
- Muscle weakness/spasms
- Loss of coordination
- Paralysis
- Loss of bowel or bladder
- Difficulty breathing
- Deformities
How do you assess a spinal (5)?
- Position: prone, supline, side-lying
- Posturing: indicates brain damage
- Movement: spontaneous vs. controlled movement
- Palpate: looking for pain in neck or vertebral column
- Identify loss of sensations
Decorticate posturing:
Flexed in
Decerebrate posturing:
Flexed out
Do not collar patients with what kind of injury?
Penetrating
By compressing the jugular vein, collars increase:
intracranial pressure
How do you pass the Canadian C-Spine rule?
Spinal is ruled out if patient:
- Has no high risk factors
- Displays low risk factors
- Can rotate their head and neck comfortably
High risk factors:
- Greater than 65 Y/O
- Dangerous mechanisms
- Parethesias in extremities
Positive indications (low risk factors):
- Patient is ambulatory
- Simple Rear-end MOI
- Delayed neck pain
- No midline C-Spine tenderness
What’s the first thing you do to treat a suspected spinal?
Manual inline stabilization
What are some external devices to use for manual spine stabilization?
- Collars
- Towels
- Tape to backboard
- Foam blocks
What are the 3 positions to evaluate a patient before allowing them to walk off the scene?
- Lying
- Sitting
- Standing
Signs that patient is ambulatory:
- Normal motor functions
- Normal sensory functions
- No pain in spine area
Reasons to prevent realignment? (7)
- Physically difficult
- Patient insists
- pain caused by movement
- Neurological symptoms increase
- Muscle spasms
- Compromised airway
- Resistance in motion
Key things to remember when log rolling:
- Minimum of 4 people
- Head, chest, hips, legs
- Realign before and after
- Align and immobilize C-Spine
How do you perform 6 person lift?
Head, 2 people at shoulders, 2 people at hips, 2 people at legs
Slide spine board under patient at feet
When strapping patient to a spine board, when do you strap the head?
Last
Name two types of straps for spine board:
Spider and Seat belt
3 types of drag techniques:
- Clothes
- Foot
- Blanket
When do you use emergency moves?
When environment poses an immediate threat
3 types of equipment for urgent moves:
- Rapid spine board
- Stretcher
- Rescue Chair
When do you use urgent moves?
- Patient is in critical condition
- Severe internal bleeding
- Needs surgical intervention
Reasons to stop cervical realignment?
- Resistance
- Patient is not comfortable
- Physically difficult
- Moving obstructs airway
- Muscle spasms
- Increase in neurological symptoms
If the patient is supine, when do you apply the cervical collar? Prone?
Supine: before movement
Prone: after movement
Why wouldn’t you apply a cervical collar?
- Patient passes Canadian C spine rule
2. X-Ray is not needed
When traveling on level ground with a spine boarded patient, which part of the body should be on the front side of the movement?
Feet first
Guidelines for lifting and carrying:
- Coordinated
- Face the person across from you
- Keep the patient’s weight close to you
- Keep the board level
- Know your limits
- Use squat motion
