Life Threatening Emergencies

Question 1

How to care for heart attack?

Answer 1

1) have victim sit and calm down
2) get help; find first aid kit and AED
3) activate emergency response
4) give aspirin unless victim has allergy or can’t take it per provider
5) have EMS do eval and 12 lead EKG
6) if heart attack = confirmed, EMS transports victim to hospital and cath lab team preps
7) intervention time goal is < 90min
* give CPR or rescue breaths prn

Question 2

Heart attack vs cardiac arrest

Answer 2

Blood flow problem; blockage or spasm of blood vessel preventing blood from flowing to heart vs rhythm problem; abnml rhythm

Question 3

Signs of heart attack?

Answer 3

Chest pain; pain/discomfort in arm(s), neck, jaw, upper back, stomach; SOB; cold sweats; N/V

Question 4

What’s a stroke?

Answer 4

When blood stops flowing to brain

Question 5

Signs of a stroke?

Answer 5

FAST: is one side of Face drooping? Is one Arm weaker than the other? Do they have Speech difficulty? If they have any of these sxs, Time to call 911; other signs: sudden loss of coordination/balance, sudden HA, sudden weakness/numbness in part of body

Question 6

How to care for stroke?

Answer 6

1) quickly eval victim for signs of stroke
2) activate emergency response system
3) find out what time 1st s/s of stroke started
4) stay w/ victim until advanced/experience rescuers come and take over
5) EMS will confirm stroke and transport victim to hospital
6) usual tx for ischemic stroke = IV of alteplase given w/in first 3hrs since 1st s/s started. Another tx = thrombectomy
* give CPR or rescue breaths prn

Question 7

How to care for cardiac arrest from drowning?

Answer 7

Do the same CPR algorithm for adults:

1) call for help, activate emergency response, and get victim out
2) check for breathing. No breathing? —> rescue breaths
3) check for pulse after 2 rescue breaths. No pulse? —> CPR 30:2. Yes pulse? —> cont rescue breaths and chk pulse q 2min
4) get AED and use asap
5) all victims should be transported to ED by EMS even if they recovered

Question 8

How to care for mild vs severe allergic rxn?

Answer 8

1) get help
2) remove victim from allergen (either move it away or wash it off)
3) get victim’s hx of allergy or anaphylaxis. Look for medical alert bracelet or necklace
4) oral histamine
VS
1) activate emergency response system
2) get epinephrine autoinjector
3) give victim epinephrine asap
4) get AED
5) give 2nd dose if advanced providers don’t arrive in next 5-10min
6) save sample that caused rxn and give to advanced providers
*give CPR or rescue breaths prn. It’s okay to give epinephrine during CPR

Question 9

How to use epinephrine autoinjector and when not to use it?

Answer 9

1) remove safety pin
2) jab into thigh (thru skin or clothing)
3) stay in for 3-10 seconds (read manufacturer’s instructions)
4) pull it out and rub injection spot for 10 seconds
5) note time of injection. dispose needle properly
6) give 2nd dose if advanced providers don’t arrive in next 5-10 min

DON’T USE IT IF SLN = DISCOLORED OR CLEAR WINDOW = RED