Chapter 10-Identify and Treat Life Threats

Question 1

Your role as an EMT is to determine:

Answer 1

If a life threat is present and then quickly address it

Question 2

A life threatening condition can quickly lead to _____

Answer 2

Death

Question 3

The rapid process of death may begin with something as simple as:

Answer 3

Loss of meaningful conversation between you and the patient

Question 4

Unless intervention occurs, what usually happens after a patient stops communicating?

Answer 4

Loss of consciousness

Question 5

When a patient loses consciousness, they become totally unresponsive to ______

Answer 5

external stimuli

Question 6

What also happens as a result of loss of consciousness and unresponsiveness?

Answer 6

The muscles become slack, including the jaw muscles, thus allowing the tongue to sag into the posterior part of the throat - which obstructs the airway

Question 8

When air can longer enter the lungs, the patient stops breathing, cutting off the intake of ________ and the release of _________

Answer 8

Oxygen
Carbon Dioxide

Question 9

The heart can not function without _____ and it will soon stop beating

Answer 9

Oxygen

Question 10

Starved of oxygen, brain cells also begin to die, leading to _________

Answer 10

Irreversible brain damage

Question 11

__________ may prevent patients from reliably identifying neck or back pain associated with an unstable fracture

Answer 11

Distracting injuries

Question 12

Therefore all patients with a _______ or a _________ warrant spinal immobilization

Answer 12

long bone fracture or significant MOI

Question 13

Name the few general conditions that cause sudden death:

Answer 13

Airway obstruction
Respiratory failure
Respiratory arrest
Shock
Severe bleeding
Cardiac arrest

Question 14

Often, these conditions are ________ or even _________ but to address them you have to be able to recognize them quickly and take immediate steps to correct them.

Answer 14

manageable
reversible

Question 15

In most cases, identifying and correcting life-threatening issues goes in the following order:

Answer 15

Airway, Breathing, and Circulation (ABCs)

Question 16

What is the order for if the patient is in cardiac arrest ?

Answer 16

The ABCs should be assessed simultaneously, in the interest of minimizing the time to first compression.

Question 17

When a patient has life threatening bleeding, what order should you follow ?

Answer 17

Address the hemorrhage first

Circulation, Airway, and Breathing (CAB)

Question 18

In the case of severe bleeding, what takes priority? Life threatening bleeding or airway and breathing concerns?

Answer 18

Life threatening bleeding