Emergency Cardiac Monitoring Flashcards
7 cards from real CET practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Emergency Cardiac Monitoring flashcards as text
During a cardiac emergency, a patient's monitor suddenly shows a flat line with no discernible waveforms. The FIRST step is to:
Answer: Check lead connections and patient
A flat line (asystole) must first be confirmed by checking lead connections and the patient, since a loose lead is a common cause of a false flat-line display.
Which ECG finding is MOST associated with hyperkalemia in an emergency setting?
Answer: Tall, peaked T waves
Tall, peaked (tented) T waves are the earliest and most characteristic ECG sign of hyperkalemia.
A patient in the ED develops sudden onset wide-complex tachycardia at 180 bpm with hemodynamic instability. The appropriate intervention is:
Answer: Synchronized cardioversion
Hemodynamically unstable wide-complex tachycardia requires immediate synchronized cardioversion regardless of the specific rhythm.
ST elevation in leads II, III, and aVF with reciprocal changes in leads I and aVL indicates an infarction of the:
Answer: Inferior wall
Leads II, III, and aVF are the inferior leads; ST elevation in these leads with reciprocal changes laterally localizes the STEMI to the inferior wall.
In pediatric emergency cardiac monitoring, the normal heart rate range for a 2-year-old child at rest is approximately:
Answer: 80–130 bpm
Resting heart rate for a 2-year-old is normally 80–130 bpm; rates outside this range may warrant investigation.
Which arrhythmia is characterized on the ECG by an irregularly irregular rhythm with no discernible P waves and a fibrillatory baseline?
Answer: Atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation produces an irregularly irregular ventricular response with chaotic atrial activity replacing organized P waves.
During continuous monitoring, the ECG technician notices artifact that mimics ventricular fibrillation but the patient is conscious and talking. The MOST likely cause is:
Answer: Patient movement or muscle artifact
A conscious, talking patient cannot be in true VF; coarse, irregular artifact in a conscious patient is most often caused by movement or muscle tremor.