Spinal injury

Question 1

What are the five steps of assessing of a patient requires spinal immobilasation?

Answer 1

• significant mechanism?
• increased injury risk?
• difficult assessment?
• actual evidence of structural injury?
• actual evidence of spinal cord injury?

Question 2

What are some patient factors that increase risk of injury?

Answer 2

• age over 55

- history of bone disease

Question 3

what are the 3 CPG factors that increase difficulty of assessment?

Answer 3

• unconsciousness or any period of LOC
• Drug or alcohol affected
• significant distracting injury

Question 4

what is actual evidence of structural injury?

Answer 4

-Spinal column pain/tenderness

Question 5

what is an indicator of actual evidence of spinal cord injury?

Answer 5

-neurological deficits

Question 6

When can you spinally clear a pediatric?

Answer 6

• never in a major trauma incident where the mechanism has potential to cause spinal injury.