Day 4 (Lessons 7/8) Flashcards
The upper air passages consist of:
The nose and mouth
Without a clear airway, the patient cannot breathe and will die in…
4 to 6 minutes
The back of the throat (pharynx) divides, at its lower portion, to become
Windpipe (trachea) in the front
and the
food pipe (esophagus) in the back
A small flap of tissue called the BLANK protects the tracheal opening
epiglottis
The three causes of airway obstruction are
Tongue (90%)
Foreign bodies
(food, teeth, vomit, blood)
Swelling
(direct blows, smoke inhalation, chemical inhalation, anaphylaxis)
Two types of airway obstruction
Partial (reduced air exchange)
Complete (no air exchange)
Signs and symptoms of partial airway obstruction (4 of them)
Noisy breathing
Hoarseness
Stridor (high-pitched noise)
Cyanosis (turning blue)
Signs and symptoms of complete airway obstruction (4)
Cyanosis (turning blue)
No air movement
Chest wall does not rise with ventilation
If conscious, unable to speak or cough
Peripheral cyanosis affects
Lips and fingers
Central cyanosis effects
Whole body
3 aspects of critical interventions
Are essential treatments that must be performed to correct life-threatening condition
Must be performed as soon as it is recognized that they are needed
Must be completed before moving onto the next step in the primary survey
Three methods for clearing an airway
Abdominal thrusts
Back blows
Chest compressions
Describe the sequence of the three airway clearing methods
Abdominal thrusts on a conscious, standing or sitting patient as a first measure
Back blows on standing or sitting patients if the abdominal thrusts are ineffective
Chest compressions on supine patients, conscious or unconscious
Up to how many abdominal thrusts and back blows?
5 each cycle
The four aspects of airway and breathing
Blow
Flow
Show
Know
Blow – oral airway if required and oxygen.
Start assisted vents every five seconds.
Train a helper
Flow – oxygen at 10 L per minute
Show – expose chest, stabilize
Know – equilateral expansion, breathing rate and quality – ensure helpers effectiveness
What is the timing for assisted vents?
Ventilate once every five seconds timed with the patients inhalation if possible
Vents should be one second in duration
Managing a complete airway obstruction (decreased level of consciousness, non-trauma, supine)
Open the airway with the head tilt, chin lift and check for breathing
Check for carotid pulse
Attempt to ventilate (no air goes in)
Look in the mouth and remove any object seen, then measure and insert an oral airway
Attempt to ventilate again (no air goes in)
Remove oral airway and perform 30 chest compressions
Look in the mouth and remove any object seen (nothing seen)
Attempt to ventilate the patient (chest does not rise)
Recheck the head tilt position and attempt to ventilate again (chest does not rise)
Perform 30 chest compressions
Look in the mouth and remove any object seen (candy is removed)
Attempt to ventilate again (2 breaths go in
Train a helper to ventilate
Measure and insert and oral airway
Oxygen at 10 L flow
Expose chest and assess breathing effectiveness
What is WERP?
Workplace emergency response procedures
Patients who have profuse bleeding from the mouth or nose or who are actively vomiting must be managed in the BLANK position
Lateral
You can use suction to assist the removal of fluids in the mouth when
Finger sweeping and gravity are not clearing the airway effectively
If attempting to use suction when the oral airway is in place and clear,
Suction to the side and do not remove the oral airway
How far does a suction catheter get inserted into the mouth?
Not further into the mouth than you can see
Suction for no longer than
20 seconds at a time
When maintaining oxygen flow to the patient, and if assisting ventilation,
Assist ventilation for 20 seconds, then suction for up to 20 seconds
