Medical Terms Flashcards: Module 1 Exam Study Set

What is the name of the publication that exposed the serious morbidity caused to Americans by highway crashes? What was the effect of this publication?

Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society, prompted EMS as it is today with guidelines

What are the parts of the EMS System? (8 total)

1. bystanders

2. dispatch

3. first responder

4. EMS

5. ALS

6. transport

7. ED

8. Specialty Care (stroke center, burns center, cath lab, peds, poison control, trauma center, etc)

Emergency Medical Responder (EMR)

The first trained individual, such as a police officer, fire fighter, lifeguard, or other rescuer, to arrive at the scene of an emergency to provide initial medical assistance.

50-60 hrs of training

Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

An individual who has training in basic life support, including automated external defibrillation, use of a definitive airway adjunct, and assisting patients with certain medications.

130-200 hrs of training

Advanced EMT (AEMT)

An individual who has training in specific aspects of advanced life support, such as intravenous therapy, and the administration of certain emergency medications.

150-250 hrs of training

Paramedics

Persons trained (sometimes coupled w/ associates or bachelors degree) and certified to provide advanced life support such as intubation, special medications, EKG, IV treatment, etc

abt 1600 hrs of training

What are the two levels of state-certified training for EMS in NJ?

EMT, Paramedic

What agency designs the EMS curricula?

US Federal Government - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

What state office regulates and certifies EMS training?

New Jersey Department of Health - The Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS)

Medical Director

The physician who authorizes or delegates to the EMT the authority to provide medical care in the field.

EMS System (Emergency Medical Services System)

A network of trained professionals that provide emergency care and transport, governed by the state laws. Can be inside or outside the hospital, refers to anybody who tries to treat the patient

General requirements to be an EMT

- high school diploma

- immunization proof

- valid drivers license

- 16+ yrs old

- BLS/CPR course completion

- state approved EMT course

- written final exam

- state recognized practical exam

- mental and physical criteria met

- no felony

- compliance with other employer previsions

Where did EMS originate?

Napoleonic Wars, WWI, WWII, Korean War

- led to organization of EMS in civilian communities

What are the three levels of EMS training regulation?

Federal - National EMS Scope of Practice Model provides basic guidelines for EMS skills

State- state regulates EMS provider operations and implements federal rules, may only implement some

Local - Medical Director decides day-to-day limits of EMS personnel and decides what EMT can do (administer certain meds) or not (cannot expand beyond state/fed)

14 components of EMS system

1. Public Access

2. Clinical Care

3. Medical direction

4. Integration of Health Services

5. Information Systems

6. Prevention

7. EMS Research

8. Communication Systems

9. Human Resources, 10. Legislation and Regulation

11. Evaluation

12. System Finance

13. Public Education, 14. Education Systems

Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP)

Any location or facility at which 9-1-1 calls are answered, proper resources are called, and pre-arrival instructions given

Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD)

A member of the EMS system who provides pre arrival instructions to callers, thereby helping to initiate lifesaving care before EMS personnel arrive. Usually take EMD, telecommunications, and CPR courses first

Offline medical control

Indirect medical control through standing orders, protocol, training, and supervision authorized by the medical director. Times when do not need to directly contact medical director to get permission to do a procedure

Online medical control

Physician directions given over the phone or radio, usually during the call

primary prevention

Efforts to prevent an injury or illness from ever occurring such as immunizations

secondary prevention

Mitigating the effects of an illness after the problem starts such as taking aspirin for chest pain

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Law that protects patient privacy so that EMS providers cannot disclose info w/o pt consent or discuss case w/ anybody not treating pt

Quality Control (QC)

The responsibility of the medical director to ensure that the appropriate medical care standards are met by EMTs on each call.

Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)

A system of internal and external reviews and audits of all aspects of an EMS system to improve care

Licensing

The process whereby a competent authority, usually the state, allows people to perform a regulated act.

Credentialing

An established process to determine the qualifications necessary to be allowed to practice a particular profession, or to function as an organization

Certification

A process in which a person, an institution, or a program is evaluated and recognized as meeting certain predetermined standards to provide safe and ethical care.

Evidence-based treatment

Interventions/procedures are not adopted unless they are validated by a research study, duplicated, and shown to benefit enough to become standard of care

Control vs. Experimental Group

control: no intervention or receives an intervention that is unrelated to the independent variable being investigated

experimental: one or more treatment groups of participants that receive the intervention of the independent variable being investigated

treatment vs placebo study

Treatment group gets intervention being tested while placebo group gets fake version to see if effects due to psychology (placebo effect) or true validity

retrospective study

A study that monitors people who have been exposed to an environmental hazard at some time in the past.

Ethnocentrism

Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.

cultural imposition

When one person imposes his or her beliefs, values, and practices on another because he or she believe his or her ideals are superior

Who is responsible for evaluating research and adopting new procedures in EMS?

Medical Director

open-ended questions

Questions that allow respondents to answer however they want

ex: "can you describe the pain for me?"

closed-ended questions

Questions that can be answered in short or single word responses

ex: ex: "do you have chest pain?"

American with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Comprehensive legislation that is designed to protect individuals with disabilities against discrimination by allowing for reasonable accommodations. Allows for guide dogs to be transported w/ pt to hospital (ex)

Shannon-Weaver Model of Communication

1) Sender

2) Encoder

3) Channel

4) Decoder

5) Receiver

noise

anything that interferes with, distorts, or slows down the transmission of information

Proxemics

study of personal space and how distance btwn ppl affects communication

Simplex Radio

Radio using single frequency that enables transmission reception of voice or ECG signals but is incapable of simultaneous transmissions.

Duplex Radio

Can send and receive messages at the same time, can hear multiple frequencies at the same time

base station radio

A high-powered two-way radio located at a dispatch center or hospital

Mobile and portable radios

Radio that can be taken on scene or left in ambulance and communicates with hospital, dispatch, medical control, etc

mobile integrated healthcare (MIH)

A method of delivering health care which involves providing health care within the community rather than at a physician's office or hospital.

National EMS Scope of Practice Model

A document created by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that outlines the skills performed by various EMS providers.

external public address system (PA)

Machine used to communicate with large groups of people, such as bystanders

Digital vs. Analog Signals

A signal representing values only at specific (discrete) moments in time. A signal that represents values continuously over time (analog)

computer-aided Dispatch (CAD)

Software that notifies ambulance of assignments and offers other supplemental data such as mapping

Steps of talking on the radio

1) identify yourself and party you want to reach

2) wait for response

3) acknowledge message

What federal agency regulates radio transmissions

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

licenses call signs, allocates specific radio frequencies, establishes licensing standards + operating specifications, monitors radio operations, and establishes limitations for transmitter output

Repeater-based systems

A special base station radio that receives messages and signals on one frequency and then automatically retransmits them on a second frequency, better range and capibilities

Trunking system

A radio system that uses a shared bank of frequencies to make the most efficient use of radio resources.

mobile data terminal (MDT)

A small computer terminal inside the ambulance that directly receives data from the dispatch center such as a CAD

What determines the success of radio communications?

Efficiency of Equipment

Consent

Permission to render care, required for treatment and transport of a patient

Advance Directive

Written documentation that specifies medical treatment for a competent patient should the patient become unable to make decisions; also called a living will or health care directive.

Stages of Death

algor mortis - body cools to match temp of environment

rigor mortis - stiffening of the joints and muscles of a body

livor mortis - blood sinks w/ gravity (aka postmortem lividity)putrefaction - decay of body

Compensatory Damages

A monetary award equivalent to the actual value of injuries or damage sustained by the aggrieved party.

Punitive Damages

Monetary damages that may be awarded to a plaintiff to punish the defendant and deter similar conduct in the future.

Defamation

The communication of false information about a person that is damaging to that person's reputation or standing in the community

- libel = written

- slander = spoken

Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)

Written documentation by a physician giving permission to medical personnel to not attempt resuscitation in the event of cardiac arrest.

Requirements to properly maintain Refusal of Medical Attention (RMA)

1) adult (18+ yrs, emancipated)

2) A+O w/ decision making capacity

3) fully informed of what is happening, benefits, risks

Implied consent

Type of consent in which a patient who is unable to give consent is given treatment under the legal assumption that he or she would want treatment.

Involuntary Consent

Consent that is assumed when the patient is either mentally incompetent or legally not permitted to make his own medical decisions

4 definitive signs of death

1) decapitation

2) dependent livity

3) rigor mortis

4) putrification

Standard of care

Written, accepted levels of emergency care expected by reason of training and profession; written by legal or professional organizations so that patients are not exposed to unreasonable risk or harm.

Contributory Negligence

A legal defense that may be raised when the defendant feels that the conduct of the plaintiff somehow contributed to any injuries or damages that were sustained by the plaintiff.

Abandonment

Unilateral termination of care by the EMT without the patient's consent and/or without making provisions for transferring care to another medical professional with the skills and training necessary to meet the needs of the patient

scope of practice

Most commonly defined by state law; outlines the care you are able to provide for the patient.

Duty to Act

A medicolegal term relating to certain personnel who either by statute or by function have a responsibility to provide care.

Kidnapping/False Imprisonment

The seizing, confining, abducting, or carrying away of a person by force, including transporting a competent adult for medical treatment without his or her consent.

Good Samaritan Law

Provides limited protection to civilian who is trying to provide first aid without expectation of care as long as acting in good faith

Qualified Immunity

A defense which protects government officials from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.

Forcible Restrainment

Physically preventing an individual from initiating any physical action because they are a harm to themselves and/or others. Usually done after contacting medical control and/or with law enforcement depending on state protocol

How would organ donation affect an ambulance call?

Would still treat patient as normal but may continue CPR even after death in order to preserve organs for hospital

Negligence

Failure to provide the same care that a person with similar training would provide in the same or similar situation such as a medication error or not administering oxygen when it should have been

Where can PHI be sent if requested?

Billing companies, other providers who are treating the patient, or if a subpoena is present

Who is allowed to make the official proclamation of death?

Physician

Assault

Unlawfully placing a patient in fear of bodily harm

Battery

Unlawfully touching a person such as providing care without consent

Objective statement vs subjective statement

Objective - factual such as patient complained of chest pain

Subjective - opinionated statement such as patient was drunk

What types of cases should be reported to an authority?

suspected abuse, childbirth, communicable diseases, attempted suicides, drug related injuries, restraints, death

Continuity of Care

Treatment transfers smoothly from one provider to another, so that the patient receives the most benefit and no interruption in care.

Who looks over PCR?

- hospital (RN, physician)

- legal system

prefix for slow

brady-

prefix for high/too much

hyper-

prefix for problem/dificulty

dys-

one sided

unilateral

prefix for fast

tachy-

prefix for low/too little

hypo-

prefix for absent

a-

both sided

bilateral

suffix for breathing

-pnea

suffix for related to lungs

-ary

suffix for study of

-logy

suffix for related to blood

-emia

suffix for inflammation of

-itis

suffix for procedure

-ectomy

suffix for related to pain

-algia