Adult Basic Flashcards
6 cards from real ITLS practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Adult Basic flashcards as text
During an ITLS Basic primary survey, you find a patient responsive only to painful stimuli. What is the most appropriate airway maneuver for this patient with a suspected cervical spine injury?
Answer: Jaw thrust without head extension
The jaw thrust without head extension is the preferred airway maneuver for trauma patients with suspected cervical spine injury, as it opens the airway without moving the neck.
What is the primary purpose of the ITLS initial assessment performed from the doorway or upon approach?
Answer: To form a general impression of the patient's condition
The initial assessment (general impression) helps providers quickly categorize the patient as stable, potentially unstable, or unstable, guiding the urgency and approach of subsequent assessment.
In ITLS Basic, which of the following patients meets criteria for rapid transport to a trauma center?
Answer: A patient with a penetrating wound to the abdomen
Penetrating wounds to the torso are a physiologic and mechanism-based indicator for rapid transport to a trauma center per ITLS guidelines.
When performing a primary survey on a trauma patient, you notice paradoxical chest wall movement. What condition does this indicate?
Answer: Flail chest
Paradoxical chest wall movement—a segment of the chest wall moving inward during inspiration and outward during expiration—indicates flail chest caused by multiple adjacent rib fractures.
A basic-level EMT is assessing a responsive trauma patient who complains of difficulty breathing. Oxygen saturation reads 88%. What is the most appropriate immediate intervention?
Answer: Apply a non-rebreather mask at 15 L/min
For a responsive trauma patient with hypoxia, a non-rebreather mask at 15 L/min providing approximately 90% FiO2 is the most appropriate initial oxygen delivery method at the basic level.
During patient packaging for transport, which action is essential when securing a patient with a suspected spinal injury to a long backboard?
Answer: Secure the torso first, then the head
The torso is secured first to prevent the body from shifting when the head is strapped, which could cause dangerous cervical spine movement.