CH 22- Toxicology

A 25-year-old man overdosed on heroin and is unresponsive. His breathing is slow and shallow and he is bradycardic. He has track marks on both arms. The EMT should:

insert a nasal airway and ventilate with a bag-mask device

A 3-year-old female ingested several leaves from a plant in the living room. The child's mother is not sure what type of plant it is, stating w=that she bought it simply because it was pretty. After completing your primary assessment of the child, you should:

contact the regional posion control center

A 4-year-old male ate berries from a bush in his yard. He is pale and complaining of a stomachache. You should:

contact poison control

A 4-year-old, 15-kg male ingested an unknown quantity of acetaminophen (Tylenol). The child's mother states that she does not know when the ingestion occurred. The child is conscious and alert and in no apparent distress. The EMT should:

administer 15 g of activated charcoal

A 49-year-old male presents with confusion, sweating, and visual hallucinations. The patient's wife tells you that he is a heavy drinker and that he might have had a seizure before your arrival. This patient is most likely experiencing:

delirium tremens

A construction worker complains of intense pain after a bag of dry powder was spilled on his arm. The EMT should

brush the chemical from his arm and then flush the skin with water

A hypnotic drug is one that:

induces sleep

A man with a prologned history of alcohol abuse fell from a second-story balcony. His blood pressure is 80/60 mm Hg, his heart rate is 120 beats/min, and his skin is cool and pale. When caring for this patient, the EMT should recall that:

reduced blood clotting worsens internal bleeding

A patient who presents with rapid breathing, nausea and vomiting, ringing in the ears, and hyperthermia should be suspected of ingesting a significant quantity of:

aspirin

A person who routinely misuses a substance and requires increasing amounts to achieve the same effect is experiencing:

tolerance

Activated charcoal is given to patients who have ingested certain substances because it:

binds to the substance and prevents absorption

Activated charcoal may be indicated for a patient who ingested:

aspirin

Afer administering activated charcoal to a patient, it is most important to:

be alert for vomiting

Airborne substances should be diluted with

oxygen

An EMT's primary responsibility to the patient who has been poisoned is to:

recognize that a poisoning occured

An overdose of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, will MOST likely cause:

liver damage and failure

As your enter the residence of a patient who has possibly overdosed, you should:

be alert for personal hazards

Atropine sulfate and pralidoxime chloride are antidotes for:

nerve gas agents

Before giving activated charcoal, you should:

obtain approval from medical control.

Common names for activated charcoal include all of the following, EXCEPT:

fructose

delirium tremens (DTs) is a syndrome assosciated with withdrawal from:

alcohol

During your assessment of a 50-year-old male who was found unresponsive in an alley, you note that he has slow, shallow respirations; bradycardia; facial cyanosis; and pinpoint pupils. As your partner begins assisting the patient's ventilations, he directs your attention to the patient's arms, which have multiple needle tracks of them. Which of the following would most likely explain the patient's presentation?

heroin overdose

EMTs are dispatched for a teenage male who is "not acting right." When they arrive, they are informed that the patient was huffing. Several cans of Freon are found near the patient. Which of the following is unique consideration for this patient?

a sudden adrenaline release can cause a fatal dysrhythmia

Heroin is an example of a(n):

Opioid

Hypotension, hypoventilation, and pinpoint pupils would be expected following an overdose of:

oxycodone (Percocet)

If you are uncertain how to treat a patient who has been poisoned or exposed to a specific substance, you should:

try to find the container the substance was in

In an apparent suicide attempt, a 19-year-old female ingested a full bottle of amitriptyline (Elavil). At present, she is conscious and alert and states that she swallowed the pills approximately 30 minutes earlier. Her blood pressure is 90/50 mm Hg, her pulse is 140 beats/min and irregular, and her respirations are 22 breaths/min with adequate depth. When transporting this patient, you should be MOST alert for:

seizures and cardiac dysrhythmias

In general, injected poisons are impossible to dilute or remove because they:

are usually absorbed quickly into the body

It is MOST important to determine a patient's weight when asking questions pertaining to a toxic ingestion because:

activated charcoal is given based on a patient's weight

Most poisonings occur via the __________ route.

ingestion

Naloxone (Narcan) would reverse the effects of:

Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)

Signs and symptoms of a sympathomimetic drug overdose include:

tachycardia

Signs of absorbed poison exposure include all of the following, except:

severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea

Substance abuse is most accurately defined as

misusing a substance to produce a desired effect

The major side effect assosciated with the administration of activated charcoal is:

black stools

The poison control center will be able to provide you with the most information regarding the appropriate treatment for a patient with a drug overdose if the center:

is aware of the substance that is involved

What type of poisoning will cause burns around the mouth in children?

alkaline poison

When caring for a known alcoholic patient with severe trauma to the chest and abdomen, you should be concerned that:

internal bleeding might be profuse because prologned alcohol use might impair the blood's ability to clot

Which of the following drugs is not a sedative-hypnotic?

oxycodone (Percocet)

Which of the following questions would be least pertinent during the initial questioning of a patient who ingested a substance?

Why was the substance ingested?

Which of the following sets of vital signs would the EMT most likely encounter in a patient with acute cocaine overdose?

BP, 200/100 mm Hg; pulse, 150 beats/min

Which of the following statements regarding inhaled poisons is correct?

Lung damage might progress after the patient is removed from the environment

Which of the following regarding the Salmonella bacterium is correct?

The Salmonella bacterium itself causes food poisoning

You and your paramedic partner are caring for a patient who ingested codeine, acetaminophen (Tylenol), and hydrocodone (Vicodin). The patient is unresponsive, his breathing is slow and shallow, and his pulse is slow and weak. Treatment for this patient should include:

assisted ventilation and naloxone (Narcan)

You are dispatched to a local nursery for a 39-year-old female who is sick. When you arrive, you find the patient lying on the floor. She is semiconscious, has copious amounts of saliva coming from her mouth, and is incontinent of urine. You quickly feel her pulse and note that it is very slow. Immediate management for this patient should include:

thoroughly suctioning her oropharynx

You recieve a call to a residence where a man found his wife unreponsive on the couch. The patient's respiratory rate is 8 breaths/min, her breathing is shallow, her heart rate is 40 beats/min, and her pulse is weak. The husband hands you an empty bottle of hydrocodone (Vicodin), which was refilled the day before. You should:

ventilate her with a bag-mask device

You respond to a college campus for a young male who is acting strangely. After law enforcement has secured the scene, you enter the patient's dorm room and find him sitting on the edge of the bed; he appears agitated. As you approach him, you note that he has dried blood around both nostrils. He is breathing adequately, his pulse is rapid and irregular, and his blood pressure is 200/110 mm Hg. Treatment for this patient includes:

attempting to calm him and giving him oxygen if tolerated

you respond to a local motel for a young female who was sexually assaulted. the patient is conscious but confused, she tells you that the last thing she remembers was drinking beer at a club with her friends the night before, when she awoke, she was in the bed of the motel room. you should be most suspicious that this patient

was given flunitrazepam (Rohypnol)

Your paramedic partner administers atropine to a 49-year-old male with bradycardia. Which of the following side effects would you expect the patient to experience?

dry mucous membranes

Your priority in caring for a patient with a surface contact poisoning is to:

avoid contaminating yourself

Your unit is dispatched to the county jail for an intoxicated inmate. Upon arrival, you find the patient, a 33-year-old male, lying supine in a jail cell. He is responsive to painful stimuli only and has slow, shallow respirations. You should be MOST concerned that this patient:

might vomit and aspirate