Extras for Chapter 1 - Introduction to Emergency Medical Care Flashcards
Definition: A system for telephone access to report emergencies
911 System
Definition: A process of continuous self-review with the purpose of identifying and correcting aspects of the system that require improvement.
Quality Improvement
Definition: Oversight of the patient-care aspects of an EMS system by the Medical Director.
Medical Direction
Definition: A physician who assumes ultimate responsibility for the patient-care aspects of the EMS system.
Medical Director
Definition: Consists of standing orders issued by the Medical Director that allow EMTs to give certain medications or perform certain procedures without speaking to the Medical Director or another physician.
Off-line Medical Direction
Definition: Lists of steps, such as assessments and interventions, to be taken in different situations.
Protocols
Definition: A policy or protocol issued by a Medical Director that authorizes EMTs and others to perform particular skills in certain situations.
Standing Order
Definition: Orders from the on-duty physician given directly to an EMT in the field by radio or telephone.
On-line Medical Direction
Definition: An EMT or other person authorized by a Medical Director to give medications and provide emergency care.
Designated Agent
Definition: Description of medical techniques or practices that are supported by scientific evidence of their safety and efficacy rather than merely supposition and tradition.
Evidence-based
Definition: The long-term survival of patients.
Patient Outcomes
The earliest documented emergency medical service was in:
France in the 1790s
In 1966, the _____________ charged the United States _____________ with developing EMS standards and helping the states to upgrade the quality of their prehospital emergency care.
NATIONAL HIGHWAY SAFETY ACT; DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Which of the following is not a major component in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s EMS system assessment standards?
COMPUTERIZATION
An example of a specialty hospital in the EMS system is a(n):
TRAUMA CENTER
The U.S. Department of Transportation provides for national levels of EMS training in all of the following except:
ADVANCED FIRST AID
The major emphasis of EMT education deals with _____________ of the ill or injured patient in the prehospital setting.
BASIC ASSESSMENT AND CARE
Patient care provided by the EMT should be:
Choices: Delayed until transportation, Based on assessment findings, Guided by the service’s attorney, or Based on the patient’s diagnosis
BASED ON ASSESSMENT FINDINGS
An example of ensuring continuity during the transfer of care of the patient would be:
PROVIDING PERTINENT PATIENT INFORMATION TO THE HOSPITAL STAFF
Patient advocacy is:
SPEAKING UP FOR YOUR PATIENT
Good personality traits are very important to the EMT. You should be:
COOPERATIVE AND RESOURCEFUL
An EMT who is not in control of personal habits might:
DO ALL OF THE ABOVE
To prevent violating patient confidentiality, the EMT should:
AVOID INAPPROPRIATE CONVERSATION
An EMT may maintain up-to-date knowledge and skills through continuing educations such as:
ATTENDING EMS CONFERENCES
A process of continuous self-review of all aspects of an EMS system for the purpose of identifying and correcting aspects of the system that require improvement is called:
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
Obtaining feedback from patients and the hospital staff is a means of:
PROVIDING QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
Participation in continuing education and keeping carefully written documentation are examples of the EMT’s role in:
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
Every EMS service or system should have a:
MEDICAL DIRECTOR
It is important that each EMT know his or her Medical Director. An EMT is operating as the Medical Director’s:
DESIGNATED AGENT
The difference between on-line and off-line medical direction is that:
ON-LINE ORDERS ARE GIVEN BY THE ON-DUTY PHYSICIAN, USUALLY OVER THE RADIO OR PHONE.
An example of a medication carried by EMTs that may require a physician consultation to administer is:
ASPIRIN
As a new EMT, you will witness many changes in the EMS system and patient care, moving from practices that have been based on __________ to those that are based on ____________.
TRADITION; RESEARCH
The EMT has many jobs to do. It is the responsibility of the EMT to treat patients:
IN A NONJUDGEMENTAL AND FAIR MANNER
Your Medical Director has stated that EMS is moving closer to science-based guidelines. A general procedure involved in making evidence-based patient care decisions is:
Choices: Reviewing the literature, An evaluation of evidence, or Forming a hypothesis
ALL OF THESE
Your service has been seeing an increase in injuries to the aging population, and your leadership is planning a program to do something about it. Injury prevention for geriatric patients and campaigns to reduce tobacco use are examples of:
AN EMT’S ROLE IN PUBLIC HEALTH
In a process developed by Galileo almost 400 years ago, called ____________, general observations are turned into a ___________.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD; HYPOTHESIS
You are going to be working with your Medical Director to help design a study that could have a significant impact on what EMS providers do for their patients in the future. The type of study that could produce the highest level of evidence (level 1) is:
A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL
List at least six of the categories and standards of an EMS system established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A. Regulation of policy B. Resource Management C. Human Resources and training D. Trauma Systems E. Communications F. Transportation
List the six types of specialty hospitals.
A. Trauma Centers B. Burn Centers C. Cardiac Centers D. Poison Control Centers E. Stroke Centers F. Pediatric Centers
List the four levels of EMS certification.
A. EMR (Emergency Medical Responder)
B. EMT (Emergency Medical Technician)
C. AEMT (Advanced Emergency Medical Technician)
D. Paramedic
List at least six of the responsibilities of an EMT.
A. Personal Safety B. Patient Care C. Transport D. Patient Advocacy E. Patient Assessment F. Lifting and Moving
A strict form of infection control based on the assumption that all blood and other body fluids are infectious.
STANDARD PRECAUTIONS
A comprehensive system that includes education and resources to both prevent stress and deal with stress appropriately when it occurs.
CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS MANAGEMENT (CISM)
The introduction of dangerous chemicals, disease, or infectious materials.
CONTAMINATION
Equipment that protects the EMS worker from infection and/or exposure to the dangers of rescue operations.
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
The organisms that cause infection, such as viruses and bacteria.
PATHOGENS
An emergency involving multiple patients.
MULTIPLE-CASUALTY INCIDENT (MCI)
The removal or cleaning of dangerous chemicals and other dangerous or infectious materials.
DECONTAMINATION
The release of a harmful substance into the environment.
HAZARDOU-MATERIAL INCIDENT
A state of physical and/or psychological arousal to a stimulus.
STRESS
Most states require refresher training for EMTs every:
2 to 4 years
An EMT at a basic level is operating as a designated agent of the:
Medical Director
Which of the following is NOT a role or responsibility for an EMT?
Providing medical direction
The first concern of an EMT must be:
Providing medical direction
The first concern of an EMT must be:
Personal safety
A policy set by an EMS Medical Director that allows EMTs to administer glucose to patients in certain circumstances without speaking to the physician is an example of a(n):
Standing Order
An order from an EMS system’s on-duty physician given by radio or phone is an example of:
Online medical direction
The level of EMS training in which the emphasis is on activating the EMS system and controlling immediate life-threatening emergencies is:
EMR
A good personal trait for an EMT is someone who:
a. speaks his/her mind.
b. in insincere
c. is nonjudgmental.
d. always follows others.
C. is nonjudgmental
Lists of steps, such as an assessment and interventions, to be taken in different situations by EMS personnel are knows as:
protocols
Which of the following is a way for an EMT to have a role in the quality improvement (QI) process?
a. Have someone else check equipment.
b. Read patient’s hospital chart.
c. Continue his or her education
d. Submit run reports quickly even if incomplete
C. Continue is or her education
Which is an example of EMS being involved in public health?
a. Responding to a mass-casualty incident
b. Public Vaccination programs
c. Providing free blood pressure checks at the station
d. Running calls with the fire department
B. Public vaccination programs
The modern Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system has been developed to provide what is known as __________ or _________-_________-_________ care.
prehospital; out-of-hospital
In 1966 the National Highway Safety Act charged the United States ________ _________ __________ with developing EMS standards.
Department of transportation
All transporting prehospital personnel should, at a minimum, be trained to the level of ________, using a standardized curriculum taught by qualified instructors.
EMT
The type of specialty hospital in which surgery teams are available on a round-the-clock basis is the ______.
Trauma Center
The specially trained EMS personnel who obtain information about emergency situations from callers and who also provide instructions for emergency care to callers are __________ ___________ _________.
Emergency Medical Dispatchers
The _________ _________ system has the capability of automatically identifying the caller’s phone number and location.
Enhanced 911
A(n) ___________ ___________ is an EMT who has passed specific additional training programs and is authorized to provide some level of advanced life support (ALS).
Advanced EMT
The process of continuous self-review with the purpose of identifying aspects of the EMS system that require improvement is known as __________ ___________.
Quality Improvement
Standing orders that allow EMTs to give certain medications or perform certain procedures without speaking directly to a physician are examples of ________-________ medical direction.
Off-line
An EMT has responsibility for a patient until ________ _______ _________ to hospital personnel has been properly completed.
Transfer of care
List at least seven of the ten categories in which the National Highway Traffic Program sets standards for EMS systems.
Regulation and policy Resource Management Human Resources and Training Transportation Facilities Communications Public Information and education Medical Direction Trauma Systems Evaluation
List three types of specialty hospitals.
Trauma Centers Burn Centers Pediatric Centers Poison Control Centers Stroke Centers Cardiac Centers
List two responsibilities of Emergency Medical Dispatchers.
To obtain appropriate information from callers and to provide medical instructions for emergency care.
List the four general levels of EMS training and certification.
EMR (Emergency Medical Responder)
EMT (Emergency Medical Technician)
AEMT (Advanced Emergency Medical Technician)
Paramedic
List at least four roles and responsibilities of the EMT.
Personal Safety Safety of the crew Safety of the patient and bystanders Patient Assessment Patient Care Lifting and Moving Transport Transfer of care
List three ways that an EMT can participate in public health.
Injury Prevention Programs
Public Vaccination Programs
Disease Surveillance
True or False. As an EMT, your authority to give medications and provide emergency care is an extension of the Medical Director’s license to practice medicine.
True
True or False. As an EMT, you will be one of the many persons and professions that come together to form and EMS system.
True
True or False. Legal and ethical issues that affect physicians and nurses are not the concern of EMTs.
False
True or False. Trauma centers are not yet considered “specialty” hospitals.
False
True or False. Certification as an EMT requires only that a person successfully complete the DOT EMT National Standard Training Program.
False
True or False. Keeping yourself safe is your second priority after patient safety when providing medical care.
False
True or False. The care an individual patient requires may range from simple emotional support to life-saving CPR.
True
True or False. You must never abandon care of the patient at the hospital until transfer to hospital personnel has been properly completed.
True
True or False. As an EMT you should be able to lift and carry a minimum of 175 pounds.
False
True or False. Good personality traits are really not very important to an EMT with excellent clinical skills.
False
True or False. Good quality continuing education can often take the place of an original EMT training course.
False
True or False. Many states use the National Registry examinations as their certifications as their certification exams.
True
True or False. Quality improvement is designed and performed to ensure that the public receives the highest quality prehospital care.
True
True or False. The EMT has no direct role in the quality improvement process.
False
True or False. Striving for quality in the care you personally give to patients and as a collective part of an ambulance squad upholds the highest standards of the EMS system.
True
True of False. Medical research does not play an important role in patient outcomes.
False
