Trauma & Life Support Procedures Flashcards
7 cards from real EMS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Trauma & Life Support Procedures flashcards as text
A patient in cardiac arrest receives a defibrillation shock. Immediately after the shock, CPR should be:
Answer: Resumed immediately for 2 minutes before rechecking the rhythm
Current AHA guidelines recommend immediately resuming CPR for 2 minutes after each defibrillation attempt without pausing for pulse checks.
You are treating a patient with a gunshot wound to the right chest who develops JVD, tracheal deviation to the left, and absent right-sided breath sounds. Your immediate intervention is:
Answer: Perform needle decompression at the right second intercostal space, midclavicular line
These findings (JVD, tracheal deviation away, absent breath sounds) indicate tension pneumothorax on the right side, requiring immediate needle decompression on the affected side.
Which finding differentiates cardiac tamponade from tension pneumothorax in a trauma patient?
Answer: Breath sounds are equal bilaterally in cardiac tamponade
In cardiac tamponade, breath sounds remain equal bilaterally because the lung fields are not affected, whereas tension pneumothorax produces unilateral absent breath sounds.
A patient received CPR and has ROSC (return of spontaneous circulation). Current guidelines recommend targeting an SpO2 of:
Answer: 92–98% — avoid both hypoxia and hyperoxia
Post-ROSC oxygen should target 92–98% SpO2 because hyperoxia can worsen reperfusion injury to the brain and myocardium.
When using a traction splint for a femur fracture, which of the following is a contraindication?
Answer: Fracture extending into or near the knee joint
Traction splints are contraindicated when the fracture involves or extends into the knee joint because traction could worsen the knee injury.
A patient with severe facial trauma and copious blood in the airway is unconscious and apneic. Your first airway management step should be:
Answer: Suction the oropharynx and attempt BVM ventilation
Suctioning to clear blood followed by BVM ventilation is the initial approach; advanced airway adjuncts are used if BVM ventilation is ineffective.
During a pediatric trauma assessment, you note a child's weight is approximately 20 kg. Using the Broselow tape or weight-based formula, the estimated ET tube size (uncuffed) would be:
Answer: 5.0 mm
Using the formula (age/4) + 4 or Broselow tape, a 20 kg child (approximately 6 years) would use approximately a 5.0 mm uncuffed ET tube.