Chapter 9-Patient Assessment Flashcards
Patient assessment is divided into 5 parts:
Scene size-up Primary Assessment History-taking Secondary Assessment Reassessment
What is a symptom?
a subjective condition that the patient feels and reports
What is a sign?
An objective condition you can observe and measure
Describe what mechanism of injury (MOI) is
the type or amount of force applied to the body, where it was applied, how long it was applied.
The two types of trauma in MOI are:
blunt trauma (spread out over a larger area) and penetrating trauma (pierces the skin and is more susceptible to infection)
What are the things that you should check during primary assessment?
LOC, ABCs, form a general impression
What sort of things factor into the general impression?
Patient’s age, race, sex, level of distress, position
After forming your general impression, you should categorize the patient as:
stable, stable but can become unstable any moment, unstable
How do you assess level of consciousness?
AVPU
If the patient is unconscious, you focus on _____
ABCs
What are some places where you can apply pressure to assess responsiveness to painful stimulus?
tricep, ear lobe, trapezius, underside of eyebrow
If the patient is conscious, and responsive to verbal stimuli, what do you evaluate next?
Orientation
How do you assess orientation?
PPET (person, place, event, time)
What should you address in a trauma patient before the ABCs?
excessive external bleeding
If direct pressure to a bleeding wound is not enough to control the bleeding, use a _____
tourniquet proximal to the injury
When do you perform a rapid exam?
As part of the primary assessment?
A patient who is breathing on their own has _____
spontaneous respiration
If a patient is not breathing or is breathing too shallow, use _______. If a patient is breathing, but hypoxic, use ______.
positive pressure ventilation, supplemental oxygen (94%-99%)
What are signs of inadequate breathing?
Use of accessory muscles Nasal flaring See-sawing tripod position sniffing position (children) Supraclavical/intercostal retractions
________ is when the work of breathing is increased. ________ is when the blood is inadequately oxygenated to meet the demands of the body. ________ is when respiratory failure has progressed too far.
Respiratory distress, respiratory failure, respiratory arrest
When do you take a radial pulse?
conscious patients above the age of 1
When do you take a carotid pulse?
unconcsious patients over the age of 1
When do you take a brachial pulse?
patients under the age of 1
Pupil size is regulated through ______ via the _______
continuous motor commands, oculomotor nerve
What is it called when someone naturally has two differently sized pupils?
Anisocoria
What are some causes of poor pupilary reactions?
Trauma stroke brain tumor poor perfusion to the brain drugs/toxins
What mneumonic can you use for pupil assessment?
Pupils Equal And Round Light (responds to ) Size (normal)
