vocabulary

Question 1

EMR

Answer 1

EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONDER:

First person on the scene with emergency
medical care skills and typically
trained to the most basic EMS level.

Question 2

EMS system

Answer 2

EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES SYSTEM:

Network of resources that provide emergency care and transport to victims of illness or
injury.

Question 3

PSAP

Answer 3

PUBLIC SAFETY ANSWERING POINT:

Call center where emergency/non-emergency calls (like police, fire brigade, ambulance) initiated by any mobile or landline subscriber are terminated.

Question 4

Emergency Medical Dispatching

Answer 4

The conveyance of critical information to a paramedic or EMR crew who must respond to an emergency.

Question 5

(E-9-1-1)

Answer 5

Enhanced 9-1-1:

A system that shows the dispatcher the street
address and telephone number of the caller on a computer screen.

Question 6

PCP

Answer 6

PRIMARY CARE PARAMEDIC:

Trained to the level above the EMR.

Question 7

ACP

Answer 7

ADVANCED CARE PARAMEDIC:

Trained to the level above the primary care paramedic and the EMR.

Question 8

CCP

Answer 8

CRITICAL CARE PARAMEDIC:

The most highly trained paramedic in the EMS system.

Question 9

pre-hospital care

Answer 9

Emergency medical treatment in the field before transportation to a medical facility. Also called “out-of-hospital care”

Question 10

medical director

Answer 10

The physician legally responsible for the clinical and patient-care aspects of an EMS system.

Question 11

direct medical control

Answer 11

Refers to an EMS medical director or another physician giving orders to an EMS rescuer at the scene of an emergency via PHONE, RADIO, or IN PERSON.

Question 12

indirect medical control

Answer 12

Refers to EMS system design, protocols, and standing orders, education for EMS personnel, and quality management.

Question 13

protocols

Answer 13

A written order issued by the medical director that may be applied to patient care; a type of standing order.

Question 14

stress

Answer 14

Any emotional, mental, or physical strain that puts extra demands on the body’s resources.

Question 15

BSI

Answer 15

BODY SUBSTANCE ISOLATION:

A strict form of infection control based on the premise that all blood and body fluids are infectious.

Question 16

standing orders

Answer 16

Advance orders, rules, regulations, or step-by-step procedures to be taken under certain conditions; a type of indirect medical control.

Question 17

express consent

Answer 17

Permission that must be obtained from every conscious, competent adult patient before emergency medical care may be rendered.

Question 18

implied consent

Answer 18

The assumption is that in an emergency, a patient who cannot give permission for emergency medical care would give it if he or she could.

Question 19

minor

Answer 19

Any person under the legally defined age of an adult, usually under the age of 18 or 21 years.

Question 20

emancipated minor

Answer 20

A minor who is married, pregnant, a parent, in the armed forces, or financially independent and living away from home with the permission of the court.

Question 21

advance directive

Answer 21

A patient’s instructions, written in advance, regarding the kind of resuscitation efforts that should be made in a life-threatening emergency.

Question 22

DNR Order

Answer 22

DO NOT RESUSCITATE ORDER:

A document that relates the wish of a chronically or terminally ill patient not to be resuscitated.

Question 23

duty to act

Answer 23

the legal obligation to render care to a patient who requires it.

Question 24

breach of duty

Answer 24

failure to act or act accordingly with one’s training
and scope of practice.

Question 25

abandonment

Answer 25

A legal term referring to discontinuing emergency medical care without making sure that another health care professional with equal or better training has taken over.

Question 26

negligence

Answer 26

The act of deviating from the accepted standard of care through carelessness, inattention, disregard, inadvertence, or oversight that was accidental but
avoidable.

Question 27

standard of care

Answer 27

The care that would be expected to be provided to the
same patient under the same circumstances by another EMR who had received the same training.

Question 28

potential crime scene

Answer 28

A scene that may require police support or
intervention.

Question 29

anatomy

Answer 29

Structure of the body.

Question 30

physiology

Answer 30

The study of the function of the body and the physical and chemical aspects involved in its activities.

Question 31

anatomical position

Answer 31

The position in which the patient is standing erect with arms down at the sides and palms facing front.

Question 32

supine position

Answer 32

The position in which a patient is lying face-up on his or her back.

Question 33

prone position

Answer 33

The position in which a patient lies face down on his or her stomach (opposite of supine).

Question 34

lateral recumbent position

Answer 34

The position in which a patient is lying on the left or right side. Also called the HAINES position or recovery position.

Question 35

recovery position

Answer 35

Lateral recumbent position; used to allow fluids to drain from the patient’s mouth instead of into the airway.

Question 36

superior (position)

Answer 36

A term of direction or position means toward or closer to the head. Opposite of inferior.

Question 37

inferior (position)

Answer 37

A term of direction or position means toward or closer to the feet. Opposite of superior.

Question 38

anterior (position)

Answer 38

A term of direction or position meaning toward the front. Opposite of posterior.

Question 39

posterior (position)

Answer 39

A term of direction or position means toward the back. Opposite of anterior.

Question 40

medial (position)

Answer 40

A term of direction or position meaning toward the midline, or centre of the body. See lateral.

Question 41

lateral (position)

Answer 41

A term of direction or position means to the left or right of the midline. See medial.

Question 42

proximal (position)

Answer 42

A term of direction or position means close or near the point of reference, which is usually the torso. Opposite of distal.

Question 43

distal (position)

Answer 43

A term of direction or position means distant or far away from the point of reference, which is usually the torso. Opposite of proximal.

Question 44

superficial (position)

Answer 44

The term position means near the surface—the opposite of deep.

Question 45

deep (positon)

Answer 45

The term position means remote or far from the surface. Opposite of superficial.

Question 46

internal (position)

Answer 46

The term position means inside. Opposite of external.

Question 47

external (position)

Answer 47

A term of position means outside. Opposite of internal.