EMT Exam 3 Flashcards
Perfusion
The supply of oxygen to and removal of wastes from the body’s cells and tissues as a result of the flow of blood through the capillaries
Hypoperfusion
The body’s inability to adequately circulate blood to the body’s cells to supply them with oxygen and nutrients
Shock
The body’s inability to adequately circulate blood to the body’s cells to supply them with oxygen and nutrients, which is a life-threatening condition
What is shock a state of
Hypoperfusion
True or false: respiration and perfusion is the same
True
What can be the cause of shock/hypoperfusion
The malfunctioning of:
- The heart (pump)
- The vessels (pipes)
- Blood (fluid)
Types of shock
- Hypovolemic
- Cardiogenic
- Neurogenic
- Anaphylactic
- Septic
- Obstructive
Hypovolemic Shock
- One of the 6 types of shock
- “Fluid” problem
- Results from a decreased volume of circulating blood and plasma
- Often called hemorrhagic shock if caused by uncontrolled bleeding (internal or external)
Cardiogenic Shock
- One of the 6 types of shock
- Results from inadequate perfusion to heart, decreasing strength of contractions
- Heart’s electrical system may malfunction, causing heartbeat that is too slow, too fast, or irregular
Who do you often see cardiogenic shock in
MI patients
Neurogenic Shock
- One of the 6 types of shock
- “Pipe” problem
- Results from inability to control dilation of blood vessels because of nerve paralysis from spinal cord injuries
- No blood loss, but vessels dilated so much that blood volume can’t fill them
Anaphylactic Shock
- One of the 6 types of shock
- “Pipe” problem
- Results from histamine release by severe allergic reaction
- No blood loss, but vessles dilated so much that blood volume can’t fill them
- Bronchioles constrict, reducing the amount of air entering lungs
What can hypovolemic shock be caused by
Can be caused by burns or crush injuries
Septic Shock
- One of the 6 types of shock
- “Pipe” problem
- Results from systemic infection
- Immune and inflammatory response in addition to actual infection release a multitude of toxins, proteins, hormones, etc; these cause vasodilation and impaired ability for cells to absorb oxygen
- Requires aggressive fluid and antibiotic treatments
Obstructive Shock
- One of the 6 types of shock
- Blood flow is blocked
Severity of Shock
- Compensated: Body shunts blood where needed
- Decompensated: Blood pressure falls as body can’t handle loos of volume
- Irreversible: Cell damage occurring; causes rapid death
What can obstructive shock be caused by
Caused by conditions such as pulmonary embolism, cardiac tamponade (trauma to chest causing bleeding), tension pneumothorax (collapsed lung leads to build up leading to pushed organs)
Signs and symptoms of shock
- AMS
- Pale, cool, clammy skin
- N/V
- Vital signs changes
Infants/children have efficient compensating mechanisms that maintain their blood pressure until
Half of their volume is depleted (children are good at compensating); potential for shock must be recognized and treated before tell-tale signs appear
Care for shock
- Aggressive airway maintenance (administer high-concentration oxygen)
- Keep the patient warm with blankets and move to ambulance
- Place supine
- Rapid transport to trauma center within “golden hour”
- Attempt to stop cause of shock
Deadly triad of trauma
- Acidosis
- Hypothermia
- Coagulopathy
Types of bleeding
- Hemorrhage is severe bleeding; major cause of shock in trauma
- External
- Internal
External bleeding- arteries
- Spurting blood
- Pulsating flow
- Bright red color
External bleeding- veins
- Steady, slow flow
- Dark red color
- Use occlusive dressing because prevents air from getting in (and therefore embolism)
External bleeding- capillaries
- Slow, even flow
External bleeding
- Occurs outside of body after force penetrates skin and lacerates or destroys underlying blood vessels
- Typically visible on surface of the skin
What is how much a person bleeds determined ny
- Size and severity of wound
- Size and pressure of ruptured vessel
- Individual’s ability to clot
How fast can someone who is bleeding from an artery die
They can die in 3 minutes
What is the most frequent cause of preventable death from injury
Serious bleeding from an extremity
Methods of controlling external bleeding
- Direct pressure
- Hemostatic agents
- Wound packing
- Tourniquet use on extremities
- Specialized compression devices for junctional bleeding
How to apply direct pressure to bleeding
- Apply firm pressure to would with gloved hand and/or gauze
- Hold pressure until bleeding is controlled
- If necessary, add dressing when lower ones are saturated
- Never remove bandages
Hemostatic agents
- Dressing containing substance that absorbs and traps RBCs
- Can be wadded up and inserted into wound
- May be a power poured directly into the wound
- Manual pressure is always necessary
How to do a wound packing
- Open clothing around the wound
- Locate the source of the most active bleeding
- Pack hemostatic dressing or gauze roll tightly into wound and directly onto the source of bleeding
- Compress firmly
What to do if wound packing is reassessed and it fails
Pack a second gauze on top of the first and reapply pressure
Tourniquet
- Use if bleeding is uncontrollable via direct pressure
- If applied correctly, a tourniquet stops arterial blood flow into the extremity and from the wound
Where do you place tourniquets
Above the bleeding site
What to do if bleeding is not controlled by applying initial tourniquet
Apply a second one jut about the first
Other ways to stop bleeding
- Splinting: Helps realign bones; decrease bleeding
- Cold application
- Elevation
Bleeding from ears
- Usually from head injury
- From increased intracranial pressure not direct trauma
What to do with a nosebleed patient
- Have patient sit and lean forward
- Apply direct pressure to fleshy portion of nostrils
- Keep patient calm and quiet
Epistaxis
Nosebleed
Internal bleeding
- Damage to internal organs and large blood vessels can result in loss of a large quantity of blood in short time
- Blood loss commonly cannot be seen
Signs of internal bleeding
- Injuries to surface of body
- Bruising, swelling, or pain over vital organs
- Painful, swollen, or deformed extremities
- Bleeding from mouth, rectum, or vagina
- Tender, rigid, or distended abdomen
- Vomiting coffee-round or bright-red material
Blood loss of single rib fracture
125 mL
Blood loss of radius or ulna fracture
250-500 ml
Blood loss of humerus fracture
750 ml
Blood loss of tibia or fibula fracture
500-1000 ml
Blood loss of femur fracture
1000-2000
Blood loss of pelvis fracture
Massive
Blunt force trauma
Leading cause of internal bleeding; can be caused by falls, MVCs, automobile-pedestrians collisions, blast injuries
Common penetrating traumas
- GSWs
- Stab wounds
- Impaled objects
What do soft tissues include
- Skin
- Fatty tissues
- Muscles
- Blood vessels
- Fibrous tissues
- Membranes
- Glands
- Nerves
Functions of skin
- Protection
- Water balance
- Temp regulation
- Excretion
- Shock absorption
True or false: soft tissue injuries often appear worse than they are
True; after cleaning up blood looks much better
Types of closed wounds
- Contusion
- Hematoma
- Closed crush injury
Contusion
- Type of closed wound
- A bruise
- Pain, swelling, discoloration at site
- May be immediate or delayed
Hematoma
- Type of closed wound
- Similar to contusion but with more tissue damage and involves larger blood vessels
- “Pocket” of blood
Closed crush injury
- Type of closed wound
- Excessive force transmitted from the body’s exterior to it’s internal structures
- Often crushes or ruptures internal organs
Assessment for closed wounds
- Bruising may be internal injury or bleeding
- Consider MOI
- Crush injuries are difficult to identify
Treatment for closed wounds
- Manage ABC’s
- Always manage shock
- Splint extremities that are painful, swollen, or deformed
- Stay alert for vomiting
- Continuously monitor
Types of open wounds
- Abrasion
- Laceration
- Puncture
- Avulsion (peeled skin)
- Amputation
- Crush injury
- Blast injury
General treatment strategy for open wounds
- Expose wound
- Clean surface of wound
- Control bleeding
- Provide care for shock
- Prevent further contamination
- Bandage dressing in place after bleeding is controlled
- Keep patient still
- Reassure patient
Dressing
Any material applied to wound to control bleeding and preventing contamination (eg MIDDLE of bandage)
Bandage
Any material used to hold dressing in place (adhesive part of bandage)
How to care for abrasions and lacerations
- Reduce wound contamination
- Hold direct pressure
- Always check pulse, motor, and sensory function distal to injury to assure function
- Never open edges of laceration to see inside or further clean wound
Penetrating and puncture wounds
An open wound that tears through the skin and destroys underlying tissues
Concerns for puncture wounds
- Objects may be embedded deeper than they appear
- Check for exit wounds; may require immediate care
- Bullets can fracture bones as they enter
- Stab wounds are considered serious if in a vital area of body
Treatment for puncture wounds
- Search for exit wound
- Assess need for shock care
- Follow spinal immobilization protocols
Avulsion
Flaps of skin or tissue are torn loose or pulled completely off
Degloving
The skin is removed like a glove
Treatment for avulsions
- Clean the wound surface
- Fold the skin back, if possible; will help the flap continue to profuse and not die
- Control bleeding and dress with bulky dressings
What are skin tears considered
Avulsions
Amputation
The traumatic severing of a body part, usually an extremity
Treatment of amputations
- Control bleeding (apply pressure dressing over stump/apply tourniquet)
- DON’T COMPLETE AMPUTATION
- Wrap amputated part in sterile wet dressing and place in plastic bag; put bag in pan with water and cold packs
Open crush injury
- Crush injuries can also be open if bones are fractured as a result of the heavy force and those bone ends break the skin
- Treat any open injuries with basic strategies and expect massive internal injuries
Blast injury
Several waves:
- Pressure wave/primary injuries
- Blast wave (things flying at you)/secondary injury
- Patient displacement/tertiary injury
- Hazmat or structural collapse/quaternary injury
- May have a combination of all open and closed injuries
What is at risk during blast injuries
Hollow organs
Evisceration
Abdominal organs protruding through an open wound
How to treat evisceration
- Don’t touch or try to replace the exposed organ
- Cover exposed organs and wound with a sterile WET dressing, moistened with sterile water/saline, and secure in place
- Flex the patient’s hips and knees if uninjured to relieve pressure
Treatment for impaled objects
- Don’t remove object; may cause severe bleeding
- Expose wound area
- Control profuse bleeding by direct pressure
- Apply several layers of bulky dressing to “splint” object in place
- Treat for shock
- Provide rapid transport
Impaled object in cheek
- Take care that object does not enter oral cavity, causing airway obstruction
- If cheek wall is perforated, profuse bleeding into mouth and throat can cause N/V
- External wound care will not stop flow of blood into the mouth
Treatment for impaled object in cheek
- Examine wound site, both inside and outside mouth
- If you find the perforation and can see both ends, remove the object (only if its impaling only the cheek)
- If object is impaled into another structure, stabilize in place
Treatment for impaled object in eye
- Stabilize the object in place
- Cover the other eye
- Secure both in place
- Reassure patient
Treatment for genital injuries
- Control bleeding
- Preserve avulsed parts
- Consider if injury suggest a more serious injury
- Maintain patient’s dignity
- Dress and bandage wound
Burns
- May involve more than just skin-level structures
- If respiratory structures are affected, swelling (of airway) may occur, causing life-threatening obstruction
- Don’t let burn distract from spinal damage or fractures
Assessment of burns
- Agent and source
- Depth
- Severity
Depth of burns: 1st degree
- AKA superficial burn
- Involves only epidermis
- Reddening with minor swelling
Depth of burns: 2nd degree
- AKA partial thickness burn
- Epidermis burned through, dermis damaged
- Deep, intense pain
- Blisters and mottling
Depth of burns: 3rd degree
- AKA full thickness burn
- All layers of skin burned
- Blackened areas surrounded by dry and white patches
- Often doesn’t feel pain because lack of functioning nerves
How to measure the percent of skin burned
- Rule of 9’s
- Palmar method (hand is 1% of skin)
True or false: a minor burn area in a young adult can be fatal to a geriatric adult
True
True or false: infants and children have a much greater relationship of body surface area to total body size, resulting in greater body fluid and heat loss from burned skin
True
What are thermal burns caused by
Flame, radiation, excessive heat from fire, steam, hot liquids, and hot objects
How to treat (and not treat) thermal burns
- Use dry, sterile dressings
- Never apply ointments, sprays, or butters
- Don’t break blisters (the blister keeps fluid away from healing skin)
What are chemical burns caused by
Various acids, bases, and caustic substances
Treatment for chemical burns
- Wash with lots of flowing water
- If dry chemical, brush away, then flush with water
- Remove contaminated clothing
- Apply sterile dressings
Electrical Injuries
Severe damage through body by disrupting nerve pathways
What can be caused by electrical injuries
- Entry and exit burns
- Respiratory/cardiac arrest
- Bones may fracture from violent muscle contractions
- Cardiac rhythm changes (be ready to defibrillate)
How to treat electrical injuries
- Cool burning areas and apply sterile dressings
- Treat for shock and provide oxygen
Blunt Trauma
A mechanism of chest injury; can fracture ribs, sternum, and costal (rib) cartilages
Compression
A mechanism of chest injury; occurs when severe blunt trauma causes the chest to rapidly compress
Penetrating Objects
A mechanism of chest injuries; bullets, knives, pieces of metal or glass, steel rods, pipes, etc; can damage internal organs and impair respiration
Flail Chest
- A fracture or two or more consecutive ribs in two or more places
- Paradoxical motion occurs when a flail segment moves in the opposite direction of the chest during respiration
Assessment for flail chest
- MOI
- Difficulty breathing/hypoxia
- Chest wall muscle contraction/paradoxical movement
Treatment for flail chest
- Administer oxygen
- Use bulky dressing to stabilize flail segment
- Monitor patient for respiratory rate and depth; assist ventilations if too shallow
Open chest injuries
- Difficult to tell what is injured from entrance wound
- Assume all wounds are life-threatening
- Open wounds allow air into chest which sets pressure imbalance and causes lung to collapse
Assessment for open chest wound
- Sucking chest wound
- Direct entrance wound to chest
- May or may not be sucking sound
- May be gasping for air
Treatment for open chest wounds
- Maintain open airway
- Seal wound
- OCCLUSIVE DRESSING
- Administer oxygen
- Treat for shock
- Immediate transport
- Consider ALS
In how many places do you tape an occlusive wound for a one sided open chest wound
Three; allows air to escape but still keeps air out (flutter valve)
What to do if there is an entrance and exit open chest wound
Tape occlusive dressing on four sides to the back exit wound, tape on three sides to chest open wound
Pneumothorax
Air in pleural cavity of lung which causes excessive pressure on lungs; can cause lung to collapse
Tension pneumothorax
Pneumothorax causes the heart to be pushed to one side; causes drop in blood pressure and tracheal deviation
Hemothorax
Blood in pleural cavity of lung which causes excessive pressure on lungs; can cause lung to collapse
Hemopneumothorax
Blood and air in pleural cavity of lung which causes excessive pressure on lungs; can cause lung to collapse
Traumatic Asphyxia
- Sudden compression of chest
- Sternum and ribs exert pressure on hearts and lungs
- Blood forced out of right atrium and up into jugular veins
- Causes ruptured blood vessels and extensive neck/facial bruising
What can cause traumatic asphyxia
People get stuck between heavy objects/machinery
Cardiac Tamponade
- Direct injury to heart causing blood to flow into the pericardial sac around the heart
- Pericardium is a tough sac that rarely leaks
- Increased pressure on heart so chambers cannot fill causing blood to back up into veins
What causes cardiac tamponade
Usually a result of penetrating trauma
Beck’s Traid for cardiac tamponade
- JVD
- Muffled heart sounds
- Narrowing pulse pressure
What is the largest blood vessel in the body
The aorta
What can be caused by damage from the aorta
High-pressure bleeding that is often fatal
Types of trauma to the aorta
- Penetrating trauma can cause direct damage
- Blunt trauma can sever or tear the aorta
Signs and symptoms of aortic injury
- Patient complains of pain in chest, abdomen, or back
- Signs of shock
- Differences in blood pressure between right and left arms
Commotio Cordis
- Trauma to chest when heart is vulnerable
- Causes ventricular fibrillation
Treatment for commotio cordis
CPR, defibrillation
Abdominal injuries
- Can be open or closed
- Internal bleeding if organs or blood vessels are lacerated or ruptured
- Serious, painful reactions if hollow organs rupture
- Evisceration may occur
Assessment for abdominal injuries
- Pain
- Nausea
- Weakness
- Thirst
- Indications of blunt trauma to chest, abdomen, or pelvis
- Coughing up or vomiting blood
- Rigid and/or distended abdomen
Treatment for abdominal injuries
- Carefully monitor airway in presence of vomiting
- Position of comfort
- Place patient on back with knees flexed
- Treat for shock
Treatment for evisceration
- Don’t touch or replace organs
- Apply sterile dressing moistened with sterile saline over wound site
- For large evisceration, maintain warmth by placing laters of bulky dressing over occlusive dressing
How many ribs are in the thoracic cavity
12 pairs
How many ribs are floating in the thoracic cavity
2 pairs; they are not attached to the sternum or anterior ribs
Striated Muscle
AKA voluntary muscle
Smooth Muscle
AKA Involuntary muscle
Bones physiology
Framework
Joints physiology
Bending
Muscles physiology
Movement
Cartilage physiology
Flexibility
Ligaments physiology
Connect bone to bone
Tendons physiology
Connects muscles to bone
What are bones made of
Formed of dense connective tissue
Why are bones susceptible to bleeding on injury
They are vascular
Self-healing nature of bone
- Break causes soft tissue swelling and a blood blot in the fracture area
- Interruption of blood supply causes the bone section to die
- Cells further from fracture divide rapidly forming tissue that heals the fracture and develops into new bone
Mechanisms of musculoskeletal injruy
- Direct force
- Indirect force
- Twisting (rotational) force
Fracture
Any break in a bone (open or closed); can be comminuted, greenstick, angulated
Comminuted Fracture
Broken in several places
Greenstick Fracture
Incomplete break
Angulated Fracture
Bent at an angle
Dislocation
“Coming apart” of a joint
Sprain
Stretching and tearing of ligaments
Strain
Overstretching of muscle
Splinting of fractured extremity
Splinting of an extremity with a suspected fracture helps prevent blood loss from bone tissues
Assessment for musculoskeletal injuries
- Treat life-threatening conditions
- Be alert for injuries besides grotesque wound
- Pain and tenderness
- Deformity and angulation
- Grating (crepitus)
- Swelling
- Brusing
- Exposed bone ends
- Nerve/blood vessel compromise (decreased CMS)
- Compartment syndrome
Compartment Syndrome
Painful conditions that occurs when pressure within the muscles builds to dangerous levels; this pressure can decrease blood flow
Six P’s of musculoskeletal assessment
- Pain or tenderness
- Pallor (pale skin)
- Parasthesia (pins and needles)
- Pulses diminished or absent
- Paralysis
- Pressure
Advantages of splinting
- Minimizes movement of disrupted joints and broken bone ends
- Prevents additional injury to soft tissues (nerves, arteries, veins, muscles)
- Decreases pain
- Minimizes blood loss
- Can prevent a closed fracture from becoming an open fracture
Principles of splinting
- Expose injury site
- Assess distal CSM
- Align long-bone injuries to anatomical position
- Don’t push protruding bones back into place
- Immobilize both injury site and adjacent joints/bones
- Apply splint before moving patient to stretcher
- Pad voids (prevents hunchback)
Realigning deformed extremity
- Assists in restoring effective circulation to extremity and to fit it to splint
- If not realigned, splint may be ineffective, causing increased pain and possible further injury
- ONE TRY TO REALIGN, then just splint
Hazards of splinting
- “Splinting patient to death”- splinting patient before life-threatening conditions are addressed
- Not ensuring ABC’s
- Too tight- compresses soft tissues
- Too loose- allows too much movement
- Splinting in deformed position
Assessment for shoulder girdle injuries
- Pain in shoulder
- Dropped shoulder
- Severe blow to back over scapula
Treatment for shoulder girdle injuries/Humerus, Elbow, Radius
- Assess distal CSM
- Use sling and swathe
- Don’t attempt to straighten or reduce
- Reassess distal CSM
Assessment for pelvic injuries
- Pain in pelvis, hips or groin
- Pain when pressure applied
- Can’t life legs
- Lateral rotation of foot
- Unexplained pressure in bladder
Treatment for pelvic injuries
- Minimize movement
- Check distal CSM
- Anatomical position
- Stabilize lower limbs
- Treat for shock
Assessment for hip dislocation/fracture
- Anterior hip dislocation
- Posterior hip dislocation (rotation of leg and foot; shortening)
- Pain and unable to stand
Treatment for hip dislocation or fracture
- Assess distal CSM
- Move patient onto spine board
- Immobilize limb with pillows and blankets
- Secure patient to spine board
- Reassess distal CSM
Assessment for femoral shaft fracture
- Intense pain
- Possibly open fracture
- Injured limb may be shortened
Treatment for shaft fracture
- Control bleeding
- Assess distal CSM
- Apply traction splint
- Reassess distal CSM
- Treat for shock
Assessment for knee injury
- Pain and tenderness
- Swelling
- Deformity with swelling
Treatment for knee injury
- Assess distal CSM
- Immobilize in current position
- Reassess distal CSM
Assessment for Tib/Fib injury
- Pain and tenderness
- Swelling
- Possible deformity
Treatment for Tib/Fib Injury
- Air inflated splint
- Two-splint method
- Single splint with ankle hitch