EMT Chapter 13

Which of these statements made by an EMT student shows he correctly understands capillary refill?

"For a capillary refill test to be normal for a child, it must be assesses at room temperature and be less than 2 seconds."

The EMT shows she understands the importance and reason for forming a general impression whens she states...

"Forming a general impression provides me with a rough idea of the patient's overall status."

On scene you find a 91-year-old female patient who fell down two steps after suddenly complaining of a severe headache. She is unresponsive with gurgling respirations. Which instruction should you immediately give your partner after manual spinal motion restriction is applied?

"Get the suction out and clear out her airway."

You are an assistant instructor for an Emergency Medical Responder course. One of the students asks you how the head-tilt, chin-lift airway maneuver works to open the airway. Your response it...

"It opens the airway by lifting the tongue from the back of the throat."

You are by the side of a 64-year-old male patient who collapsed at home. After assessing his level of consciousness, airway, and breathing, you determine that he is unresponsive with an open airway, but not breathing. The patient has a week carotid pulse. Which instruction should you immediately give to your partner?

"Let's attempt placement of an OPA or NPA and start ventilations."

Which of these statements make by the EMT indicated that he has appropriately initiated the first phase of patient assessment?

"The scene appears to be free of hazards."

Which capillary refill time is considered normal for a 5-year-old child?

2 seconds

Which capillary refill time is considered the upper limit of normal for an adult female?

3 seconds

Which of these patients would the EMT identify as having the most adequate breathing, free from any respiratory distress?

A 34-year-old male with abdominal pain who is alert and oriented with good chest rise and fall

Which of these patients should receive oxygen via an oxygenation adjunct such as an NRM or nasal cannula?

A 42-year-old female who is confused, weak, and dizzy, and adequately breathing 14 times per minute

Which of these patients would be classified as unresponsive?

A 46-year-old male who does not respond when his fingers are pinched

Which of these patients is considered the lowest priority for a rapid secondary exam and immediate transport?

A 72-year-old man complaining of leg pain for a week

You cannot locate a radial pulse on a 54-year-old male who is alert, confused, and breathing adequately. What should you do immediately?

Check for the carotid pulse

You have been called for a 6-month-old male patient with a high fever who has seized. Currently, the patient is not seizing and appears to be sleeping. When performing the primary assessment on this patient, which of these actions would be most appropriate?

Check for the presence of a pulse in the brachial artery

An EMT is assessing a 9-month-old infant who is "not acting right" per his mother. Assessment reveals him to be extremely irritable, crying weakly, and resistant to being touched by the EMT. Which one of the following best describes this infant's mental status?

Alert

You have been called for an adult patient who suffered a seizure. He is sitting on the floor, and looks at you as you enter the room. When questioned, he knows his name but cannnot remember the date, what happened, or where he is. This patient's mental status can be best described as...

Alert but confused

The EMT would recognize which of these patients as having a normal breathing rate?

An 8-year-old male breathing 24 times per minute

Which finding individually would most likely indicate that a patient is breathing inadequately?

An SpO2 of less than 94%

An intoxicated 19-year-old female patient has fallen through large plate glass window. As you approach, you note her to be sitting up holding her hand over a large laceration on her opposite arm that is spurting bright red blood. In this situation, you would immediately...

Apple direct pressure to the laceration

A 28-year-old female patient has fallen 20 feet from the roof of a house. She is lying supine and does not appear to be conscious or breathing. On arrival at her side, what should the EMT do first?

Apply manual in-line spinal motion restriction

You have been dispatched to an apartment for an elderly male complaining of shortness of breath. When do you start the process of forming a general impression about this patient?

As you and your partner approach him

A 36-year-old patient who has overdosed on an unknown drug presents in a seemingly unresponsive state as you walk into the room. Given this, what should you do first?

Assess the patient's mental status

You are assessing an 8-month-old child whose mother states that he has been vomiting for two days and not eating or drinking normally. When assessing the pulse, you should check which site?

Brachial

Your patient is 82 years old and has diabetes. Which assessment parameter is the least reliable sign indicating this patient's peripheral circulatory status?

Capillary refill

You have completed the primary assessment on a patient who was thrown from a motorcycle and landed on his head and back on the nearby sidewalk. After initiating spine motion restriction and finding no life threats during the primary assessment, which action should you take first when starting a secondary assessment?

Conduct a physical exam

When performing the primary assessment of a 45-year-old patient, which of these skin findings should concern the EMT?

Cool and moist skin

A conscious and alert 64-year-old female patient complains of chest pain and mild shortness of breath. She appears to have no difficulty speaking and states that the pain suddenly started about 2 hours ago. Her daughter on scene advises you there is a history of blood clots in the lungs of her family, and she is scared and would like her mother to be evaluated. Which of these steps should you take first?

Determine the adequacy of the patient's breathing

You have been dispatched to a residence for an 89-year-old female patient with a nonspecific complaint. When assessing this patient, what should you do first to develop an initial impression regarding emergency?

Determine whether the complaint is medical or trauma related

A 43-year-old male patient has called 911 with the complaint of difficulty breathing. Once on scene, you note he is breathing at a rate of 18 breaths/min. He also exhibits intercostal retractions and nasal flaring. The pulse oximeter reads 93% on room air. The EMT should document this patient's breathing as...

Dyspneic

You must check the circulation of an 8-year-old child with a high fever who has been vomiting for the past 2 hours. The child is very frightened and crying., Given the situation, you should...

Palpate the radial artery

As you arrive by the side of a 64-year-old unresponsive female patient, you hear snoring respirations. Your immediate action would be to...

Perform a manual jaw-thrust maneuver

At a nursing home, you find an elderly patient extremely short of breath. To best determine whether this patient is cyanotic, you should...

Examine the lining of the lips and mouth

During the primary assessment, how should you best describe the adequacy of a patient's breathing?

Examine the rise and fall of the chest

A patient has been shot once in the left hand. After performing the primary assessment, the EMT quickly focuses his attention on the patient's left hand and begins a specific assessment of the injury. Which type of exam in the EMT performing?

Focused

A 62-year-old female patient who has been working in her garden has hot, dry skin. You should recognize this finding as a possible sign of...

Heat exposure

Forming a general impression is essential in the assessment of any patient because it...

Helps to determine the clinical status of a patient

An Emergency Medical Responder informs you that a 59-year-old female patient is responsive to verbal stimuli. What would be the most accurate representation of this status?

Her eyes are closed, but she will open them if asked

You are interviewing a prospective candidate for an EMT position with your service. During the interview, you ask the applicant to describe the purpose of the primary assessment. Which of these statement s best describes that purpose?

Identify and treat life threatening conditions

You have been called to the side of a 37-year-old female patient whose chief complains is confusion, anxiety, and chest tightness. Assessment shows her airway to be patent, respirations are 46 breaths/min, heart rate is 134 beat/min, blood pressure is 128/54 mmHg, and SpO2 is 93%. In regard to the respiratory rate, you would recognize....

It does not allow the lungs enough time to adequately fill

A patient has called 911 for abdominal pain and generalized weakness. On arrival, you note that the patient's skin is a yellow-orange color. Which disease revealed to you during the history would best correlate to this patient's skin?

Liver disease

A 26-year-old male patient has been ejected from a car after it rolled several times in the median of the interstate. As you perform the primary assessment, you find him prone and unresponsive. Your immediate action is to...

Logroll him into supine position

To stabilize the cervical spine of a trauma patient while simultaneously opening the airway, how should you position her head?

Neutral and in-line

During your primary assessment, you note the patient's skin to be warm, pink, and dry. This finding would seem to indicate...

Normal cicrulation

To best evaluate the adequacy of breathing in an unresponsive adult, the EMT should...

Observe the chest rise

A 44-year-old male patient was cutting limbs from high in a tree when he fell. He is found to be unresponsive with snoring respirations. His breathing is inadequate at a rate of 8 breaths/min and his carotid pulse is weak and difficult to locate. Following the primary assessment and initial management of life threats, which of these actions will the EMT complete while performing the secondary assessment?

Obtain vital signs and get a past medical history from the family

You have just determined that a 92-year-old female patient found in bed is unresponsive, but still has a carotid pulse. Your next action would be to...

Open the airway manually

A 62-year-old female patient was struck by a car traveling approximately 45 mph. After being struck, she was thrown 15 feet onto the sidewalk, impacting the pavement with her head and chest. The primary assessment has been completed, spine motion restrictions precautions have been provided, and life threats addressed. The patients husband is by her side. When performing the secondary assessment on this patient, what should the EMT do first?

Perform a rapid head-to-toe physical assessment

A 5-year-old boy has been vomiting profusely for two days. Your assessment indicated that his airway is open, respirations adequate, and radial pulse fast and weak. His skin is cool and moist, and the capillary refill time is 5 seconds. This patient is most likely...

Poorly perfused

Forming the general impressions starts during which phase of the patient assessment?

Primary assessment

You arrive on the scene of a motor vehicle collision and are presented with a patient who complains of chest pain after striking his chest on the steering wheel. On-scene Emergency Medical Responders are maintaining cervical spine motion restriction manually. The patient is alert and oriented and has a patent airway. His respirations are 24 breaths/min with good chest rise and fall, and his skin is warm and dry. He described some shortness of breath, his heart rate is 86 beats/min, and his SpO2 is 92% on room air. At this time you should...

Provide oxygen via nasal cannula at 2-4 liters per minute

When performing the primary assessment of a conscious adult, you typically palpate which pulse first?

Radial

When assessing an adult trauma patient's circulation status during the primary assessment, the EMT's assessment should include...

Radial and/or carotid pulse, skin characteristics, and presence of external bleeding

Which characteristic regarding breathing rates must the EMT remember when assessing the respirations of a pediatric patient?

Respirations in a pediatric patient are usually faster than those of an adult

You are assessing a 4-year-old patient whose panicked mother states the she cannot wake him. The child is breathing but his eyes are closed. To best determine the child's mental status, you should first...

Say loudly, "Open your eyes!"

When assessing a sick or injured patient, which of these indicates the appropriate order in whch the assessment should occur?

Scene size-up, primary assessment, secondary assessment

The patient's family states that their 16-year-old daughter has a history of asthma and has been complaining of shortness of breath for the past two days. She has been taking her metered-dose inhaler with some relief, but this morning, they found her lethargic and struggling to breathe. Your assessment reveals the patient to be responsive to verbal stimuli with an open airway and shallow respirations of 44 breather/min. You hear minimal wheezing in both lungs. What is your immediate action in caring for this patient?

Start positive pressure ventilation

As you perform the primary assessment on an unresponsive patient, you discover vomits in her airway. What should you do next?

Suction the airway

As you approach a patient who was involved in a motor vehicle crash, you note that he has dark, oozing blood coming from an open fracture to his lower left tibia. The patient was removed from the car by bystanders and is being held by a family member. What should you do immediately?

Take manual in-line spine motion restriction

When teaching a group of Emergency Medical Reponders about the mechanism of injury, which point should you stress?

The mechanism of injury is the sole criterion on which an EMT decides whether immediate transport is required

You are by the side of a patient who complains of shortness of breath and has a history of heart problems, including congestive heart failure (CHF). When assessing the airway, which of these observations best indicated that it it still patent?

The patient easily tells you that she is having chest pain

You arrive at the scene of a fall, where a 42-year-old woman fell backward off a stepladder which cleaning her kitchen windows. She is seated on the floor and complains of pain in her ankle. She tells you, "If I had just gone to work today instead of using vacation time, this would have never happened!" Based on information thus far, what can you conclude?

The patient is alert with an open airway

What is the purpose of assessing the pulse on an unresponsive patient during the primary assessment?

To determine the presence of a heartbeat

Near the end of a workday, a construction worker fell 10 feet from scaffolding, landing on his head and left shoulder. He is found to be spontaneously alert, but confused. His airway is open and his breathing is adequate. Coworkers state that he was unresponsive for a period of 2 minutes following the fall and is on medications for depression and heart problems. Based on this information, the EMT should initially classify him as which kind of patient?

Trauma

While treating a patient who was assaulted by a mob of angry people in a bar, the EMT finds the patient to be confused, tachycardic, with cool skin and a poor capillary refill. Based on this information, how would you categorize this patient?

Unstable