Medical Emergencies & Patient Transport Flashcards
7 cards from real CEP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Medical Emergencies & Patient Transport flashcards as text
A patient is found unresponsive with pinpoint pupils and a respiratory rate of 4 breaths/min. After naloxone administration with minimal improvement, what should you suspect?
Answer: Mixed drug ingestion involving sedatives in addition to opioids
Incomplete naloxone response suggests co-ingestion of non-opioid CNS depressants such as benzodiazepines or alcohol that naloxone does not reverse.
During transport of a patient with acute pulmonary edema, which intervention helps reduce preload and improve respiratory distress most rapidly in a normotensive patient?
Answer: Nitroglycerin sublingual or infusion
Nitroglycerin rapidly reduces venous preload and pulmonary congestion in normotensive acute pulmonary edema.
A patient with a history of epilepsy has a witnessed generalized tonic-clonic seizure that stops spontaneously after 2 minutes. She is now postictal. What is the priority transport consideration?
Answer: Immediate airway management and oxygen; transport to ED
Even a self-terminating seizure requires assessment, airway management, oxygen administration, and ED evaluation to rule out precipitating causes.
Which sign is most specific for tension pneumothorax in a patient on positive pressure ventilation?
Answer: Hypotension with distended neck veins
Hypotension combined with JVD indicates obstructive shock from mediastinal shift, which is the most specific hemodynamic sign of tension pneumothorax.
A patient with known Type 1 diabetes is confused and diaphoretic. Blood glucose reads 38 mg/dL. He is unable to swallow safely. What is the correct treatment?
Answer: Dextrose 50% IV or glucagon 1 mg IM/IN if no IV access
Patients unable to protect their airway should receive IV dextrose; glucagon IM/IN is the alternative when IV access is unavailable.
When performing interfacility transport of a patient with an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), what is a critical transport consideration?
Answer: Maintain continuous ECG monitoring to ensure proper balloon timing
IABP function depends on ECG-triggered timing; continuous monitoring ensures effective counterpulsation and early detection of dysrhythmias during transport.
A patient presents with abrupt onset of tearing back pain radiating to the abdomen, hypertension, and unequal blood pressures between arms. Which diagnosis is most likely?
Answer: Aortic dissection
Tearing or ripping pain with BP differential between extremities is the classic presentation of aortic dissection requiring emergent surgical evaluation.