Chapter 8 - Patient Assessment
The normal respiratory rate for an adult should range from:
12-20 breaths/min
A 29-year-old male with a head injury opens his eyes when you speak to him, is confused as to the time and date, and is able to move all of his extremities on command. His GCS score is:
13
During a 30 minute transport of a stable patient, you should reassess him/her at least ___ times.
2
Normal respiratory rates should not exceed ___ breaths/min in children and ___ breaths/min in infants
30, 50
An unstable patient should be reassessed at least every:
5 minutes
For an adult, the normal resting pulse should be between:
60 and 100 beats/min
In the adult, bradycardia is defined as a pulse rate less that ____ beats/min, and tachycardia is defined as a heart rate greater than ____ beats/min.
60, 100
The full-body scan of a patient that occurs following the primary assessment should take no longer than:
60-90 seconds
In which of the following situations is a pertinent negative identified?
A 59-year-old man complains of crushing chest pain but denies shortness of breath
An elderly patient has fallen and hit her head. You assess her level of consciousness as unresponsive using the AVPU scale. Your initial care should focus on:
ABCs
A 71-year-old female slipped on a rug and fell. She is conscious and alert and complains of severe pelvic pain. Her respirations are 22 breaths/min with adequate depth and her heart rate is 120 beats/min. Which of the following would NOT be appropriate for this patient?
Gentle palpation of the pelvis
A decrease in BP may indicate:
a loss of vascular tone
Which of the following is LEAST likely to cause an altered LOC?
acute anxiety
Treatment and transport priorities at the scene of a MCI should be determined after:
all the patients have been triaged
Palliating factors regarding a patient's pain involve those that:
alleviate the pain
Poor peripheral circulation will cause the skin to appear:
ashen
An adult patient who is NOT experiencing difficulty breathing will:
be able to speak in complete sentences without unusual pauses.
Which of the following factors would MOST likely cause a patient's pulse rate to be slower that normal?
beta-blocker medications
When auscultating the bp in a patient's upper extremity, you should place the diaphragm (head) of the stethoscope over the _________ artery.
brachial
When performing a full-body scan on a trauma patient, you note the presence of Battle's sign. This is defined as:
bruising behind the ear
A patient's short-term memory is MOST likely intact if he/she correctly answers questions regarding:
date and event
A 50-year-old male is found unconscious in his car. There were no witnesses to the event. When gathering medical history information for this patient, the EMT should:
determine if the patient has a medical alert bracelet or wallet card
When evaluating a patient with multiple complaints, the EMT's responsibility is to:
determine which complaint poses the greatest threat to the patient's life
A patient with profuse sweating is referred to as being:
diaphoretic
External bleeding from an extremity can usually be controlled by a combination of:
direct pressure and elevation
When approaching a 32-year-old male who is complaining of traumatic neck pain, you should:
ensure that the patient can see you approaching him
Upon arriving at a potentially unsafe scene, you should:
ensure that you are safe
A BP cuff that is too small for a patient's arm will give a:
falsely high systolic and diastolic reading
A patient with high blood pressure would be expected to have skin that is:
flushed and red
which of the following findings indicates that your patient has a patent airway?
forceful coughing
Which of the following is an example of a symptom?
headache
What part of the patient assessment process focuses on obtaining additional information about the patient's chief complaint and any medical problems he or she may have?
history taking
The goal the the primary assessment is to:
identify and rapidly treat all life-threatening conditions
After performing a primary assessment, a rapid scan of the body should be performed in order to:
identify less obvious injuries that require immediate transport
If you cannot palpate a pulse in an unresponsive patient, you should:
immediately begin CPR
Upon arriving at the scene of a patient with difficulty breathing, you determine that the scene is safe. You enter the residence and find the patient sitting in a chair in obvious distress. Your first action should be to:
introduce yourself to the patient
In patients with deeply pigmented skin, changes in color may be apparent only in certain areas, such as the:
lips
A 40-year-old male presents with pain to the right upper quadrant of his abdomen. He is conscious and alert with stable vital signs. During your assessment, you note that his skin and sclera are jaundiced. You should suspect:
liver dysfunction
The goal of the full-body scan that is performed during the secondary assessment is to:
locate injuries not found in the primary assessment
As you assess the head of a patient with a suspected spinal injury, your partner should:
maintain stabilization of the head
The diastolic pressure represents the:
minimum amount of pressure that is always present in the arteries
The chief complaint is MOST accurately defined as the:
most serious thing the patient is concerned about
Typical methods of assessing a patient's breathing include all of the following, except:
observing for nasal flaring during inhalation.
A 40-year-old male crashed his motorcycle into a tree. He is semiconscious, has snoring respirations, and has a laceration to the forearm with minimal bleeding. You should:
open his airway with the jaw-thrust maneuver
An injured patient is assigned a total score of 9 on the GCS. He is assigned a score of 2 for eye opening, a score of 3 for verbal response, and a score of 4 for motor response. Which of the following clinical findings is consistent with his GCS score?
opens eyes in response to pain, uses inappropriate words, withdraws from pain
In infants and small children, skin color should be assessed on the:
palms and soles
A full-body scan should be performed on:
patients with a significant MOI and unresponsive medical patients
The MOST effective way to determine whether your patient's problem is medical or traumatic in origin is to:
perform a careful and thorough assessment
During your assessment of a 6-month-old male with vomiting and diarrhea, you note that his capillary refill time is approx. 4 seconds. From this information, you should conclude that his:
peripheral circulation is decreased
Normal skin color, temperature, and condition should be:
pink, warm, and dry
Which of the following is the MOST accurate guide to palpating a pulse?
place the tips of your index and long fingers over the pulse point
When performing a full-body scan on a supine patient, what part of the body is typically assessed last?
posterior
A palpable pulse is created by:
pressure waves through the arteries caused by cardiac contraction
Observations made when forming a general impression of a patient would include all of the following, except:
pulse strength
In responsive patients that are older that 1 year of age, you should palpate the pulse at the ________ artery.
radial
Pain that moves from its point of origin to another body location is said to be:
radiating
When palpating a patient's pulse, you note that there is a short interval between pulsations. This indicates that the pulse is:
rapid
Which of the following actions would NOT be performed during the scene size-up?
rapidly assessing a patient's respiratory status
If a patient develops difficulty breathing after your primary assessment, you should immediately:
reevaluate his/her airway status
When performing the reassessment of your patient, you should first:
repeat the primary assessment
When interviewing a patient, you can show him/her that you understand the situation by:
repeating statements back to him/her
A patient who does not respond to your questions but moves or cries out when his/her trapezius muscle is pinched, is said to be:
responsive to painful stimuli
Jugular venous distention suggests a problem with blood returning to the heart if the patient is:
sitting up at a 45 degree angle
Which of the following abnormal breath sounds indicates obstruction of the upper airway?
stridor
When assessing a patient's abdomen, you will typically evaluate for all of the following, except:
subcutaneous emphysema
After performing a head tilt-chin lift maneuver to open the airway of an unresponsive patient, you should:
suction as needed and insert and airway adjunct
When you use the palpation method to obtain a BP, the measurement you obtain is the
systolic BP
After the first 60 minutes of experiencing a significant injury:
the body's ability to compensate for shock decreases
The "Golden Period" begins when an injury occurs and ends when:
the patient receives definitive care
Reassessment is performed to determine all of the following, except:
the reason why the patient called EMS
A low ETCO2 reading, as measured by capnography, would MOST likely be observed if:
there is an absence or decrease in the level of CO2 in the lungs.
When a patient's respirations are shallow:
tidal volume is markedly reduced
When assessing a 62-year-old female with crushing chest pain, you note that her pule is rapid and irregular. In addition to administering oxygen, you should:
transport at once and consider requesting a paramedic unit
A properly sized BP cuff should cover:
two thirds the length from the armpit to the crease in the elbow
When is it MOST appropriate to consider requesting additional ambulances at an accident scene?
when you determine that there are multiple patients
When assessing motor function in a conscious patient's lower extremities, you should expect the patient to:
wiggle his or her toes on command
A patient with spontaneous respirations is breathing:
without assistance
Palpating the carotid pulse is not recommended in infants because:
you may inadvertently compress the trachea
