MS Emergency Procedures & Response 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is composed of which three components?
- Heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure
- Eye opening, verbal response, motor response (Correct answer)
- Pupil reaction, reflexes, muscle tone
- Orientation, memory, judgment
Correct answer: Eye opening, verbal response, motor response
GCS assesses eye opening, verbal response, and motor response, scoring from 3 (worst) to 15 (best).
Question 2: When documenting a seizure in the ED, which detail is least important to include?
- Duration of seizure activity
- Type of movements observed
- Patient's favorite food (Correct answer)
- Postictal state description
Correct answer: Patient's favorite food
Patient dietary preferences are irrelevant to seizure documentation; clinical observations are what matter.
Question 3: The FAST acronym used in stroke recognition stands for:
- Fever, Ataxia, Syncope, Tachycardia
- Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to call 911 (Correct answer)
- Fatigue, Amnesia, Seizure, Tremor
- Flushing, Agitation, Stiffness, Tachypnea
Correct answer: Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to call 911
FAST (Face, Arm, Speech, Time) is the public and clinical mnemonic for early stroke recognition.
Question 4: When documenting a patient's altered mental status (AMS), the scribe should note all of the following EXCEPT:
- Last known normal baseline
- Possible contributing medications
- Patient's social media activity (Correct answer)
- Onset and duration of symptoms
Correct answer: Patient's social media activity
Clinical documentation focuses on medical history, symptoms, and medications, not social media.
Question 5: A scribe hears the team call a 'Level 1 Trauma.' This typically indicates:
- A minor injury requiring outpatient follow-up
- The highest severity trauma requiring full team response (Correct answer)
- A pediatric-only emergency protocol
- A psychiatric emergency
Correct answer: The highest severity trauma requiring full team response
Level 1 trauma activations indicate the highest acuity injuries and trigger a full multidisciplinary team response.
Question 6: In emergency documentation, 'tachycardia' refers to a heart rate of:
- Less than 60 bpm
- Greater than 100 bpm (Correct answer)
- Between 60–100 bpm
- Greater than 150 bpm only
Correct answer: Greater than 100 bpm
Tachycardia is defined as a heart rate exceeding 100 beats per minute in adults.
Question 7: During a mass casualty incident (MCI), the triage tag color indicating a patient who is deceased or unsalvageable is:
- Red
- Yellow
- Green
- Black (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Black
Black triage tags are used to designate deceased or expectant patients in mass casualty triage systems.
MS Emergency Procedures & Response 3
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is composed of which three components?