EMS Chapter 15

Harsh, high-pitched inspiratory sounds are characteristic of:

Stridors

Which of the following patients is breathing adequately?

29-year old woman with respirations of 20 breaths/min, who is conscious and alert.

A respiratory rate of 25 to 50 breaths in an infant indicates?

A normal rate of respiration

Which position should a patient with epiglottitis be in?

Sniffing

Which of the following is usually associated with a seal-back cough?

Croup

Which of the following is a common MDI drug?

Alupent

Which of the following sounds are indicative of a partial upper airway obstruction, usually in the oropharynx?

Snoring

Which of the following drugs could you use for asthma, bronchitis, and COPD?

Atrovent

The H1N1 strain of influenza Type A is transmitted by which route?

Both direct contact with nasal secretions and contact with aerosolized droplets from coughing or sneezing.

Dyspnea is a common complaint in patients with which type of disease?

Cardiopulmonary

Atelectasis can be defined as?

Collapsed alveoli

A young female is unconscious after intentionally ingesting a large amount of aspirin. You will MOST likely find her respirations:

Deep and rapid.

A barrel chest is a sign and symptom of which disease?

Emphysema

The patient with_________ is unlikely to need emergency treatment unless the condition has worsened from generalized cold symptoms?

Hay fever

The primary stimulus that triggers a patient to breath is the carbon dioxide level in the arterial blood. Some patients who suffer from chronic carbon dioxide retention will utilize a secondary stimulus, or drive, to breath. What is this secondary stimulus known as?

Hypoxic drive

You are assessing a patient with respiratory distress and are unsure if the cause is congestive heart failure (CHF) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Which of the following clinical signs would be the MOST helpful in determining whether the patient has CHF or COPD?

Jugular vein distention

Which of the following is a contraindication for CPAP?

Low blood pressure

A patient who has just had a severe asthma episode is now very sleepy. This indicates that the patient?

Might stop breathing

Your patient is complaining of fatigue. She is breathing at 18 breaths per minute, has equal chest rise and fall, and has clear lung sounds. She is presenting with signs of ___________.

Normal breathing

A 60-year-old male presents with acute respiratory distress. He is conscious and alert, has pink and dry skin, and has respirations of 22 breaths/min with adequate depth. Which of the following treatments is MOST appropriate for this patient?

Oxygen via nonrebreathing mask and a focused secondary assessment

For which of these conditions is supplemental oxygen mandatory?

Pulmonary embolism

Which of the following statements regarding pulse oximetry is correct?

Pulse oximetry measures the percentage of hemoglobin that is saturated with oxygen, but does not measure the actual hemoglobin content of the blood.

What is the principle function of the lungs?

Respiration

Which of the following filters, warms, and humidifies air during inhalation?

Upper airway

Albuterol is a generic name for:

Ventolin

The upper airway consists of all anatomic airway structures above the level of?

Vocal chords

Which of the following are examples of "dry" lung sounds?

Wheezes

Which of these answers is something you should NOT do when assessing breath sounds?

When listening to the patients back, the stethoscope head should be over the scapulas.

The respiratory distress that accompanies emphysema is caused by:

chronic stretching of the alveolar walls.

A conscious and alert 29-year-old female with a history of asthma complains of difficulty breathing that began after her morning jog. The temperature outside is 40°F (5°C). On exam, you hear bilateral expiratory wheezing. After providing supplemental oxygen, you should:

determine if she has been prescribed a beta-agonist inhaler.

You are attending to a 28-year-old female patient in severe respiratory distress. The patient has had a high fever all day, and the respiratory distress came on very quickly. Your patient is now sitting in a chair, leaning forward with her hands on her knees. She is making high-pitched sounds with each breath and does not seem to be moving very much air. Based on this information, your patient is likely suffering from:

epiglottitis.

At the onset of an acute asthma attack, patients commonly experience difficulty breathing and:

expiratory wheezing.

In a healthy individual, the brain stem stimulates breathing on the basis of:

increased carbon dioxide levels.

The two processes that occur during respiration are:

inspiration and expiration.

You are attending to a 5-year-old male patient who has had a cold and fever for the last two days. His parents became concerned when he started having coughing spells that would last for over a minute, during which he would turn blue. After the coughing attack, his parents reported that he seemed to be sucking the air back in. Based on this information, your patient is most likely suffering from:

pertussis

Your elderly patient recently had surgery. She now complains of a sudden onset of dyspnea and sharp chest pain. You should suspect ___________.

pulmonary embolus

You are attending to a 6-year-old female patient. Her parents tell you that she has been sick for the last three days with the respiratory infection that has been going around her school. They became concerned when she stopped drinking fluids, and they could not get her to take in any liquids. The patient is showing signs of significant dehydration. Based on this information, your patient is most likely suffering from:

respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection.

The hypoxic drive is the body's _________

secondary respiratory drive

During the primary assessment, you determine your patient has a life-threatening emergency. You should now:

transport rapidly.