Chapter 14:

Question 1

What is the feeling of bone ends rubbing together called?

Answer 1

Crepitation

Question 2

You are dispatched for a patient with chest pain. Your patient tells you that she has had shortness of breath and chest pain for about 20 minutes. Which of the following questions will give you the best information regarding your patient’s chest pain symptoms?

Answer 2

Describe how the pain feels

Question 3

When using the memory aid OPQRST, which of the following questions would help you find out about P?

Answer 3

Does anything make the pain better or worse?

Question 4

You and another EMT are discussing a call he previously ran. The EMT said the patient had classic chest pain symptoms and he treated it as a possible heart attack, but he later found out the patient just had indigestion and was discharged 2 hours later. The EMT was concerned that his patient assessment skills were not as good as they should be, and that the ED physician will no longer trust his judgment. How should you respond to his concerns?

Answer 4

Tell him that his misdiagnosis is a result of limited information.

Question 5

You are on the scene in the bad part of town for an unresponsive 18-year-old type 1 diabetic patient. His mother states that he is very noncompliant with his diabetes management and often goes unresponsive due to low blood sugar. After performing the primary assessment, you believe that this is the most likely cause of his unresponsiveness. However, after taking a capillary glucose reading you are surprised to see that the patient’s sugar level is normal. How will you now determine the field diagnosis?

Answer 5

Continue patient care by getting a complete SAMPLE history and perform a complete secondary assessment.

Question 6

You have a patient who is unresponsive on the floor. What is the best way to rule in or rule out trauma as a cause of the patient’s unresponsiveness?

Answer 6

Look for bystanders and ask them if they witnessed the incident.

Question 7

You are on the scene of a 16-year-old patient in respiratory distress. The patient has a history of asthma. After placing the patient on oxygen and performing the primary and secondary assessments, you are confident that the patient is indeed having an asthma attack. How can you be sure your field diagnosis is accurate?

Answer 7

Think of all possible causes of respiratory distress and rule them in or out as potential diagnoses based on your clinical findings.

Question 8

An EMT’s assessment differs from an assessment made in the emergency department in which way?

Answer 8

the EMT is working with limited resources.

Question 9

While an EMT forms a field diagnosis on the scene of an emergency, how do the steps differ from the traditional approach to diagnosis?

Answer 9

The EMT must rule in or out the most serious conditions associated with the patient’s presentation.

Question 10

________ are signs or symptoms that suggest the possibility of a particular problem that is very serious.

Answer 10

Red flags

Question 11

Which of the following is one advantage of using heuristics?

Answer 11

It speeds up the process of diagnosis

Question 12

“If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck–except when it isn’t” is a way to summarize which of the following?

Answer 12

Representativeness

Question 13

A description of a patient’s condition that assists a clinician in further evaluation and treatment is known as which of the following?

Answer 13

Diagnosis

Question 14

Which of the following techniques of physical examination must an EMT master?

Answer 14

Observation, palpation, and auscultation

Question 15

Your elderly patient reports having stomach cramps for several hours. He denies any trauma and he hasn’t eaten for several hours. Which of the following is most important to your assessment of this patient?

Answer 15

Asking if he has been having regular bowel movements

Question 16

Of the following, which would most likely give the best information regarding your patient’s mental status?

Answer 16

Patient’s ability to know person, place, time, and purpose

Question 17

Once you have reached a possible diagnosis for a patient, you should:

Answer 17

continue to look for data that will help rule in or rule out other conditions

Question 18

Which of the following methods should be used to have a patient rate the amount of pain he is having?

Answer 18

Have the patient rate the pain on a scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain).

Question 19

Your patient is a 16-year-old female who is reporting abdominal pain and nausea. She says it came on when she woke up this morning. Her mother says that her daughter has been tired and cranky lately and has not been eating well for a couple of weeks. In fact, every time you ask a question, the patient’s mother answers. What should you do next?

Answer 19

Have your partner interview the mother in the next room.

Question 20

Mr. Hughes is a 49-year-old man complaining of chest pain. To find out about the quality of his chest pain, which of the following questions is most appropriate?

Answer 20

Can you describe how the pain in your chest feels?