| Question | Answer |
| Scene size-up | EMT's initial evaluation of a scene. Determine safety hazards and nature of patients problem and number of patients |
| Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) | items that protect against injury and disease |
| DCAPBTLS | D-Deformaties
C-Continusions
A-Abraisions
P-Puncture/Penetraion
B-Burns
T-Tendernous
L-Laceration
S-Swelling |
| Nature of Illness (NOI) | type of medical condition or complaint a patient is suffering from |
| Inspection of chest | -inspect for trauma
-chest rise
-palpate: use both hands to make sure breathing is symmetrical
-auscultate |
| ASsess pelvis | -bleeding
-priapism: erection, common in male spinal injured victims
-palpation of pelvic wings |
| Assess Lower extremities | Puleses
Motor function: see if they can flex
Sensory function:flick bottom of feet, see if they feel
Deformaties |
| Upper extremities | Deformaties
Pulses
Motor functions
Sensation |
| apnea | absence of breathing |
| dyspnea | Difficult or labored breathing |
| hemiplegia | paralysis of am arm and leg on one side of the body |
| icteric, icterus | yellow skin or sclera |
| paraplegia | paralysis of both legs |
| quadriplegia | paralysis of both arms and legs |
| Flexion posturing | patient arches back and flexes the arms inward toward the chest. Sign of serious head injury. aka decorticate posturing |
| Aspiration | Breathing a substance into the lungs |
| Flail Segment | 2 or more adjacent ribs that are fractured in 2 or more places |
| Chief complaint | answer to question, "Why did you call the ambulance?" |
| Battle sign | black and blue discoloration to the mastoid area behind the car, late sign of a skull or head injury |
| Paradoxical motion | movement of a section of the chest in the opposite direction from the rest of the chest during respiration |
| Modified secondary assessment | physical exam focused on specific site. responsive trauma patient no significant mechanism of injury, no multiple injuries or altered mental statues, responsive, alert and oriented. |
| Rapid secondary assessment | head-to-toe physical exam. significant mechanism of trauma swiftly carried out, multiple injuries, altered mental status.
-can either be unresponsive, no response to verbal stimuli or painful stimuli. |
| Primary assessment | assessment conducted immediately following scene size up for purpose of discovering immediately life threatening conditions |
| Patent | Open, not blocked |
| Cerebrospinal fluid | Fluid that surrounds and cushions the brain and spinal cord |
| AVPU | -mnemonic for alert,
-responds to verbal stimulus, -responds to painful stimulus, -unresponsive-to characterize levels of responsiveness |
