Firstquarterstudy Flashcards
What do you do if you have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor as a EMT candidate?
One of the primary responsibilities of each state is to ensure the safety of its residents. As such, states have requirements prohibiting people with certain legal infractions from becoming EMS providers. The specific legal exclusions, either misdemeanors and/or felonies, are created on a state-by-state basis. Contact your state EMS office for more information
Why are EMR’s an important part of the EMS system?
An EMR has basic emergency care and operations training, and is focused on managing the emergency scene and initiating immediate life-sacing care before the ambulance arrives.
What types of skills would a layperson be trained in?
CPR and AED use
What is the EMS medical director responsible for?
Authorizes the EMTs in the service to provide medical care in the field.
To ensure proper training standards are met, the medical director determines and approves the continuing education and training that are required of each EMT in the service.
The medical director is responsible for maintaining quality control.
How does an EMT transfer patient care?
Excellent verbal communication is also an integral part if transferring the patients care to the nurses and physicians at the hospital.
Documentation also provides an opportunity to communicate the patients story to others who may participate in the patients care in the future. Adequate reporting and accurate records ensure the continuity of patient care. Complete patient records also facilitate transfer of care, transfer of responsibility, and help comply with requirements of health departments and law enforcement agencies, as well as fulfill your organizations administrative needs.
Nowhere is communication more important than during patient care handover, often called handoff.
“Giving the handover report”
Initiate eye contact
Manage the environment
Ensure the ABCs
Provide a structured report (think the SBAT format, situation, background, assessment , treatment)
Provide documentation
Provide
The __ part if the body, or any body part, is the portion nearer to the head from a specific reference point. Above a body part or nearer to the head
Superior
The part nearer to the feet is the __ portion. Below a body part or nearer to the feet
Inferior
Parts of the body that lie farther from the midline, are called __(outer) structures.
Lateral
The parts that lie closer to the midline are called __(inner) structures
Medial
The terms __ and __ are used to describe the relationship of any two structures on an extremity.
Proximal and distal
__ describes structures that are closer to the trunk
Proximal
__ describes structures that are father from the trunk or nearer to the free end of the extremity
Distal
Many structures of the body occur __. A body party that appears in both sides of the midline is __. For example, the eyes, ears, hands, and feet are __ structures, meaning there is one on each side of the midline. This is also true for structures inside the body, such as the lungs and kidneys
Bilateral
Something that appears in only one side of the body is said to occur__. For example, __ chest expansion means that only one lung is expanding with inhalation(such as with a pneumothorax). Pain that occurs on only one side of the body could be called __ pain
Unilateral
The motion of the portion of the chest wall that is detached in a flail chest; the motion in during inhalation, out during exhalation —is exactly the opposite of normal chest wall motion during breathing
Paradoxical motion
What is the ratio of oxygen percentage you breathe in compared to what you breath out
The air you breathe is 21% oxygen, and the air you exhale is 16% oxygen. This means there is only a 5% margin of safety for oxygen concentration in the air you breathe
The lower part of the back, formed by the lowest five nonfused vertebrae; also called the dorsal spine
Lumbar spine (5)
The 12 vertebrae that lie between the cervical vertebrae and the lumbar vertebrae. One pair of ribs is attached to each of these vertebrae
Thoracic spine (12)
One of three bones ( sacrum and two pelvic bones ) that make up the pelvic ring; consists of five fused sacral vertebrae
Sacrum
The five __ vertebrae are fused together to form one bone called the sacrum.
Sacral vertebrae (5)
The last four vertebrae, also fused together, form the __, or tailbone
Coccyx (4)
The shinbone; the larger of the two bones of the lower leg
Tibia
The lower leg comprises two bones: the tibia and the fibula. The larger of the two, the__ (shinbone), articulates with the inferior end of the femur at the knee joint. It is positioned on the medial side of the lower leg and can be palpated along its entire length on the anterior surface of the leg, just beneath the skin.
tibia
The anterior side of the knee is covered by a specialized bone called the _
Patella (kneecap)
The knee cap; a specialized bone that lies within the tendon of the quadriceps muscle
Patella
The __ is the longest and one of the strongest bones in the body
Femur (thighbone)
The foot comprises the tarsals, metatarsals, and phalanges. The seven tarsals include the large __, or heel bone, and the talus
Calcaneus (heel bone)
The process of exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide
Respiration
___is simply the movement of air between the lungs and the environment. It requires chest rise and fall. You are providing artificial___ when you assist a patient who is not breathing with a bag-mask device—a
ventilation
Artificial ventilation is provided in the hope that your patient will resume_.____ is the process of gas exchange.____ provides the much-needed oxygen to cells and removes the waste product carbon dioxide. This exchange of gases also helps to control the pH of the blood.
respiration
What is the average and maximum life expectancy?
The average is 78, maximum is approximately 120 years
When doing your assessment what goes of questions do you need to be gentle about asking?
When lifting and moving a patient what are some things you need to remember to minimize risk to both you and your patient
To avoid injury to the patient, yourself, or your team, you need to learn how tonlify and carry a patient properly, using proper body mechanics and a power grip
A technique in which the stretcher or backboard us gripped by inserting each hand under the handle with the palm facing up and the thumb extended, fully supporting the underside of the handle on the curved palm with the fingers and thumb
Power grip
Whenever you grasp a stretcher or backboard your hands should be at least __ apart
10 inches
Explain the proper way to lift a patient in a stretcher using a power grip
Hands need to be at least 10 inches apart. Each hand should be inserted under the handle with the palm facing up and the thumb extended upward. To have the proper power grip, make sure that the underside of the handle is fully supported on your curved palm with only the fingers and thumb preventing it from being pulled sideways or upward out of the palm.
Explain when you should use the stretcher compared to a stair chair
When you just carry a conscious patient up or down stairs or significant incline, use a stair chair if the patients condition allows them to be placed in a sitting position. When a patient is unresponsive, must be moved in a supine position, or must be immobilized, secure the patient onto a soft stretcher, backboard, or vacuum matress.
What types of things are important to take into consideration with situational awareness
Knowledge and understanding of one’s surroundings and the ability to recognize potential risks to the safety of the patient or Ems team. An effective team must have a team leader to coordinate and guide decision making. For this system to work, every member must be responsible for maintaining individual situational awareness and conveying critical information to each other and to the team leader. Good team members communicate effectively; accept feedback; are good followers, have confidence, compassion, and maturity; maintain situational awareness; and use appreciative, or positive, inquiry to approach organization change.
When a paramedic begins treatment of a patient shat is the EMTs responsibility
In general, assisting follows a four-step process: (1) patient preparation, (2) equipment setup, (3) performing the procedure, and (4) continuing care.
Explain diaphoretic
When the skin is bathed in sweat, such as after strenuous exercise or when the patient is in shock, the skin is described as wet or diaphoretic
Characterized by light or profuse sweating
Diaphoretic
Explain flushed
The skin becomes red
High blood pressure may cause the skin to be abnormally__ and red. A patient with a significant fever, heatstroke, sunburn, mild thermal burns, or other conditions in which the body is unable to properly dissipate heat will älso appear to have red skin.
flushed
The overall initial impression that determines the priority for patient care; based on the patient’s surroundings, the mechanism of injury, signs and symptoms, and the chief complaint.
General impression
What is observed when making a general impression
The general impression is formed to determine the priority of care and is the first part of your primary assessment. This includes noting things such as the person’s age, sex, race, level of distress, and overall appearance, which may lead you to anticipate different problems.
Why can you feel a pulse in a patient
A pulse is the wave of pressure created as the heart contracts and forces blood out the left ventricle and into the major arteries
How often do you assess a stable patient and an unstable patient?
Stable patient = 15
Unstable patient = 5
Explain conscious and alert
The patient’s eyes open spontaneously as you approach, and the patient appears to be aware of you and responsive to the environment. The patient is awake, appears to follow commands, and the eyes visually track people and objects.
Explain responsive to verbal stimuli
The patient is not alert and awake. The patient’s eyes do not open spontaneously.
However, the patient’s eyes do open when you speak to him or her, or the patient is able to respond in some meaningful way when spoken to-for example, by moaning, speaking, or moving. A patient who does not respond to your normal speaking voice but who responds when you speak loudly is responding to loud verbal stimuli
Explain responsive to painful stimuli
The patient does not respond to your questions but moves or cries out in response to painful stimulus. There are appropriate and inappropriate methods of applying a painful stimulus (FIGURE 10-9).
Be aware that some methods may not give an accurate result if a spinal cord injury is present. Methods of gauging a patient’s responsiveness to painful stimuli. Gently or firmly apply pressure on or pinch the patient’s sternum. Gently but firmly apply pressure or pinch the posterior edge of the patient’s mandible (lower jaw).Gently but firmly pinch the patient’s trapezius muscle on top of the shoulder.
Explain completely unresponsive
The patient does not respond spontaneously or to a verbal or painful stimulus. Unresponsive patients usually have no cough or gag reflex and lack the ability to protect their airway. If you are in doubt about whether a patient is truly unresponsive, assume the worst and treat appropriately.
If you are treating an unresponsive patient who has a pulse and is breathing what should you do to maintain their airway
Head tilt chin lift airway adjunct if needed ?
How is circulation evaluated during a primary assessment
Circulation is evaluated by assessing the patient’s mental status, pulse, and skin condition. The first step in evaluating any patient is to rapidly scan for, identify, and control severe external bleeding
What are some safety considerations needed when using oxygen?
Make sure the pins match
Combustion
High concentrations of oxygen are potentially harmful for a select population. Oxygen toxicity refers to damage to cellular tissue due to excessive oxygen levels in the blood. Increased cellular oxygen levels contribute to the production if oxygen free radicals. These free radicals may lead to tissue damage and cellular death in some patients.
What is the mediastinum and what is located in it
Space within the chest that contains the heart, major blood vessels, vagus nerve, trachea, major bronchi, and esophagus;located between the two lungs
Explain how to insert a nasopharyngeal airway and an oropharyngeal airway
Oral : size the airway by measuring from the patients earlobe to the corner of the mouth. Open the patients mouth with the cross finger technique. Hold the airway upside down with your other hand. Insert airway with the tip facing the roof of the mouth.rotate the airway 180 degrees. Insert until then flange rests on the patients lips and teeth. (FOR A 90 degree rotation ), depress the tongue so it remains forward, insert the oral sideways from the corner of the mouth until then flange reaches the teeth, rotate 90. Remove bite stick as you exert gentle backward pressure on the oral airway until it rests securely in place against the lips and teeth
Nasal : size airway by measuring from the tip of the nose to the patients earlobe. Coat the tip with a water-soluble lubricant.insert the lubricated airway into the larger nostril with the curvature following the floor of the nose. If using the right nare, the bevel should face the septum. If using left nare, insert the aiwreat with the tip of the airway pointing upward, which will allow the bevel to face the septum. Gently advance the airway. If using left nare, insert the nasal until resistance is met, then rotate the nasal 180 into position. This rotation is not required for right nostril. Continue until the flange rests against the nostril. If you feel any resistance or obstruction, remove the airway and insert it into other nostril
What does contraindicated mean
A medication is contraindicated when it would harm the patient or have no positive effect in the patients condition. Conditions that makes sense a particular medication or treatment Inappropriate because it would not help, or may actually harm, a patient
What is BLS
is noninvasive emergency life-saving care that is used to treat medical conditions, including airway obstruction, respiratory arrest, and cardiac arrest.
What should you do if you find an unresponsive patient
Check for absent or abnormal breathing and unresponsiveness at the same time. Check for pulse for no more that 10 seconds.
What should you watch for when using a BVM
If you ventilate too forcefully or if the patients airway is not opened adequately then the excess gas under pressure opens up the collapsible tube(esophagus) and allows air to enter the stomach. Gastric distention.
Hyperventilation (ventilating too fast or with too much force) may cause increased intrathoracic pressure (pressure inside the chest cavity) by putting pressure on the vena cava, thus reducing the amount of blood that returns to the heart. (Chapter 11, Airway Management.) This increased intrathoracic pressure decreases the effectiveness of chest compressions and results in the heart and brain receiving decreased amounts of oxygen.
