Airway, Respiration & Ventilation Flashcards
7 cards from real Paramedics Exam practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Airway, Respiration & Ventilation flashcards as text
A patient in respiratory arrest has dentures. What is the correct action before attempting BVM ventilation?
Answer: Leave well-fitting dentures in place to maintain facial seal
Well-fitting dentures should remain in place as they help maintain a better mask seal during BVM ventilation.
Which waveform on capnography indicates a patient is rebreathing CO2 due to an incompetent expiratory valve?
Answer: Elevated baseline above zero
An elevated CO2 baseline above zero on capnography indicates rebreathing of CO2, often due to an incompetent expiratory valve or exhausted CO2 absorber.
During rapid sequence intubation, succinylcholine is contraindicated in a patient with crush injuries from 10 days ago. Why?
Answer: Upregulation of acetylcholine receptors leads to life-threatening hyperkalemia
After 48–72 hours, denervated or damaged muscle upregulates acetylcholine receptors; succinylcholine causes massive potassium efflux, potentially causing cardiac arrest.
A 4-year-old child is in respiratory distress. The appropriately-sized ETT is selected using the formula. Which formula is correct for uncuffed tubes?
Answer: (Age / 4) + 4
The Broselow tape or the formula (Age/4) + 4 estimates uncuffed ETT internal diameter in millimeters for pediatric patients.
A patient is intubated and has equal bilateral breath sounds, but SpO2 remains at 84%. Waveform capnography shows a normal square waveform at 38 mmHg. What is the most likely cause?
Answer: Ventilation-perfusion mismatch
Confirmed tube placement with normal ETCO2 and equal breath sounds rules out malposition; persistent low SpO2 with good ventilation suggests V/Q mismatch (e.g., pulmonary embolism, ARDS).
When performing cricothyrotomy, the cricothyroid membrane is located between which two structures?
Answer: Thyroid cartilage and cricoid cartilage
The cricothyroid membrane spans between the inferior thyroid cartilage and the superior cricoid cartilage and is the target for emergency surgical airway access.
A COPD patient receiving high-flow oxygen becomes increasingly drowsy and develops a respiratory rate of 8. What is occurring?
Answer: Hypoxic drive suppression reducing respiratory stimulus
Some COPD patients rely on hypoxic drive; administering high-flow O2 can suppress this drive, reduce respiratory rate, and cause CO2 retention and altered mental status.