Medical Emergencies I Flashcards
How do you obtain an up-to-date medical and dental history?
Using a medical questionnaire
What can a medical and dental history help identify?
Help identify risks and minimise medical emergency occurrence
Was observations needs to be made during a physical evaluation of the Patient? (7)
- Patient’s posture
- Body movements
- Quality of speech
- Feel of patient’s skin
- Colour of the patients skin
- Odours on the breath
- Rate and pattern of respiration
When should training for medical emergencies be updated?
Updated at least annually
Where should all medical emergency drugs be stored?
Stored together in a purposely-designed ‘Emergency Drugs’ storage container
How should drugs in solution be prepared for in medical emergencies?
Where possible drugs in solution should be in a pre-filled syringe
Give some examples of cardiovascular emergencies (5)
- Myocardial Infarction
- Angina
- Cardiac Arrest
- Syncope (fainting)
- Postural Hypotension
Give some examples of respiratory emergencies (4)
- Hyperventilation
- Respiratory Arrest
- Acute Respiratory Obstruction
- Asthma
Give some examples of neurological emergencies (3)
- CVA (Stroke)
- Status epilepticus
- Loss of consciousness
Give some examples of metabolic emergencies (3)
- Hypoglycaemia
- Hyperglycaemia
- Addisonian crisis
What is Addisonian crisis?
- Metabolic emergency
- Low BP
- Low blood levels of sugar
- High blood levels of potassium
Give some examples of miscellaneous medical emergencies (4)
- Anaphylaxis
- Drug overdose
- Drug allergy
- Drug interactions
Glyceryl trinitrate spray;
Medical emergency?
Dosage?
Route?
Mechanism of action?
- Angina
- 400mg
- Sublingual
- Potent vasodilator
Salbutamol aerosol inhaler;
Medical emergency?
Dosage?
Route?
Mechanism of action?
- Asthma
- 100mg
- Inhalation
- B2 agonist
Adrenaline;
Medical emergency?
Dosage?
Route?
Mechanism of action?
- Anaphylaxis
- 0.5mg
- Intramuscular
- α receptor agonist
Aspirin dispersable;
Medical emergency?
Dosage?
Route?
Mechanism of action?
- Myocardial infarction
- 300mg
- Oral
- Anti-platelet
Glucagon;
Medical emergency?
Dosage?
Route?
Mechanism of action?
- Unconscious hypoglycaemia
- 1mg
- Intramuscular
- Glycogenolysis
Midazolam;
Medical emergency?
Dosage?
Route?
Mechanism of action?
- Epilepsy
- 10mg/ml
- Buccal
- Muscle relaxant
Oxygen;
Medical emergency? (6)
Dosage?
Route?
- Syncope, MI, stroke, anaphylaxis, epilepsy, Adrenal insufficiency
- 15L/min
- Inhalation
What does the ABCDE approach stand for?
- Airway
- Breathing
- Circulation
- Disability
- Exposure
During the ABCDE approach what do you need to look for in ‘Airways’
- Look for signs of airway obstruction
- In partial obstruction; wheeze or stirdor may be noticed
- In complete obstruction no breath sound is possible
During the ABCDE approach what do you need to look for in ‘Breathing’
- General signs of respiratory distress
- Count respiratory rate
- Assess breath depth, respiration pattern (rhythm) and whether chest expansion is normal and equal on both sides
During the ABCDE approach what do you need to look for in ‘Circulation’
- Check the colour of the hands and fingers
- Check limb temperature
During the ABCDE approach what do you need to look for in ‘Disability’
- Examine pupil size
- Check patients conscience levels using AVPU
- Measure blood glucose
What is AVPU used for? What does it stand for?
- Rapid initial assessment of the patient’s conscious level
- Alert
- Vocal stimuli
- Painful stimuli
- Unresponsive
