Disability Flashcards
What ways can you assess consciousness?
- AVPU
- GCS
What are the main components of AVPU?
- Alert
- Voice
- Pain
- Unresponsive
What are unconscious patients at risk of?
Airway obstruction
What is important to give to all unconscious patients?
All unconscious patients should receive high flow oxygen
If there was no history of trauma or C-spine injury, how would you manage an unconscious patient?
Recovery position
What are two simple things which are important to rule out in someone who is unconscious?
- Hypoglycaemia
- Opioid intoxication
How would you manage an unconscious patient with a bedside blood gluocse of < 3.5 mmol/l?
What is the triad of opiod intoxication?
- Unconsciousness
- Respiratory depression
- Equal, reactive, pinpoint pupils
How would you treat opioid intoxication?
Naloxone 0.2-0.4 mg IV
Why might naloxone need to be given numerous times to treat opioid intoxication?
Has considerably shorter duration of action than many opioids
How often should monitoring intitally be done on someone who is found to be unconscious?
Every 15 minutes initially
What would you be particularly aware of in clinical examination of an unconscious patient?
- ABC problems
- Signs of shock
- Cyanosis
- Jaundice
- Breath - ketones, hepatic foetor
- Neuro - GCS, Pupils, tone, power reflexes
- Gag reflex
What would you do as part of your disability assessment?
DAB PN
- Drug chart review
- AVPU/GCS
- Blood Glucose
- Pupils
- Neurog exam - focussed
What are important causes of unconsciousness to rule out?
- Hypoglycaemia
- Opioid toxicity
- Hypoxia
- Hypercarbia
- Raised ICP
- Meningitis/Encephalitis
- Drug toxicity
- Sepsis
- Shock
What urgent investigations would you consider doing in an unconscious patient?
- Blood glucose
- Bloods - FBC, U+E’s, LFTs, ABG
- ECG
- CXR
- CT head
- LP
