Paramedicine & Emergency Medical Services Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering paramedic clinical topics, including cardiovascular emergencies, trauma, pharmacology, medical-legal definitions, airway management, and diagnostic triads.

Cord Prolapse

An obstetric emergency occurring during delivery when the umbilical cord slips down into or outside the vagina ahead of or beside the presenting fetal part; managed prehospital by elevating the presenting fetal part to relieve cord compression.

Preterm Labour

The onset of regular, intense uterine contractions producing cervical dilation (such as $5\,cm$) occurring prior to $37$ weeks of gestation.

Irreversible Shock

The terminal stage of shock characterized by severe tissue and cellular hypoperfusion, obligate anaerobic metabolism, accumulation of lactic acid causing metabolic acidosis, multi-organ failure, and failure to respond to medical resuscitation.

Preload

The volume of blood returning to and stretching the ventricles at the end of diastole, recognized as the most critical determinant of stroke volume in a healthy heart.

False Imprisonment

The unauthorized, intentional confinement or forcible transport of a mentally competent patient who has explicitly refused medical care or transport.

Negligence

A deviation from or breach of the accepted standard of care provided by a medical professional that leads to or contributes to patient harm.

Abandonment

The abrupt termination of patient care by a healthcare provider without the patient's consent and without properly transferring care to an equally or more qualified medical practitioner.

Battery

Unlawful, unauthorized, or nonconsensual physical contact with a patient without valid legal consent.

Expressed Consent

A type of consent for medical care communicated directly through explicit verbal statement or clear positive physical gesture by a competent adult.

Implied Consent

A legal presumption that an unconscious, incapacitated, severely altered, or unattended minor patient would consent to life-saving emergency medical treatment if able.

-emia

A medical suffix denoting a condition, substance, or abnormality in the blood (e.g., anemia, leukemia, bacteremia, hyperglycemia).

Beck's Triad

A set of three clinical findings diagnostic of cardiac tamponade: hypotension, jugular venous distention (JVD), and muffled heart sounds.

Cushing's Triad

A sign of critically elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) characterized by hypertension (widened pulse pressure), bradycardia, and irregular or slow respirations.

Charcot's Triad

A triad of symptoms indicative of biliary obstruction or acute ascending cholangitis: right upper quadrant (RUQ) abdominal pain, fever with chills, and jaundice.

Saint's Triad

A clinical triad associated with acute bile duct infection (acute cholangitis) comprising right upper quadrant (RUQ) abdominal pain, fever, and jaundice.

Trauma Triad of Death

A lethal physiological vicious cycle in severe trauma cases comprising coagulopathy, hypothermia, and metabolic acidosis.

Battle's Sign

Ecchymosis or subcutaneous bruising over the mastoid process behind the ear, indicating a basilar skull fracture.

Raccoon Sign

Bilateral or unilateral periorbital ecchymosis (bruising around the eyes) indicative of a basilar skull fracture.

McBurney's Point

The anatomical point on the abdominal wall situated one-third of the distance from the anterior superior iliac spine to the umbilicus, denoting maximal tenderness in acute appendicitis.

Brudzinski's Sign

A diagnostic sign of meningeal irritation wherein passive forward flexion of the neck triggers involuntary reflexive flexion of the patient's hips and knees.

Parkland Formula

A clinical formula for estimating crystalloid fluid replacement in burn patients over the first $24\,hours$: $4\,mL \times \text{Weight (kg)} \times \%\,\text{Total Body Surface Area Burned}$, administering the first half over $8\,hours$.

The Rule of Nines

An assessment tool allocating body surface area percentages for burns; in adults, the head accounts for $9\%$ and legs $18\%$ each, whereas in infants, the head accounts for $18\%$ and legs $14\%$ each.

Sinoatrial (SA) Node

The primary intrinsic cardiac pacemaker located in the upper wall of the right atrium near the superior vena cava, firing at a baseline rate of $60\text{ to }100\,bpm$.

Atrioventricular (AV) Junction

The heart's secondary backup pacemaker located in the lower right atrium at the atrioventricular border, generating an intrinsic pacing rate of $40\text{ to }60\,bpm$.

Purkinje Fibers

The terminal cardiac ventricular pacemaker and conduction system fibers producing the slowest backup intrinsic pacing rate of $20\text{ to }40\,bpm$.

Pulse Pressure

The numerical difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements ($\text{Systolic BP} - \text{Diastolic BP}$).

Cardiac Output

The total volume of blood pumped by the ventricles per minute, calculated mathematically as Heart Rate multiplied by Stroke Volume ($\text{CO} = \text{HR} \times \text{SV}$).

Diastole

The period of relaxation of the cardiac muscle during which the ventricular chambers dilate and fill with venous blood.

Systole

The phase of the cardiac cycle when the ventricles contract actively to eject blood into the pulmonary artery and systemic aorta.

Respiratory Cilia

Microscopic hair-like cellular projections lining respiratory passages, such as the primary bronchus, that beat rhythmically to propel mucus, microbes, and foreign debris upward out of the lungs.

Venturi Mask

A high-flow oxygen delivery device operating via the Venturi effect that entrains room air with precise amounts of oxygen to supply fixed, predictable $\text{FiO}_2$ concentrations ($24\%$ to $60\%$), widely used for patients with COPD.

Sprain

A traumatic injury to a joint that causes stretching, partial tearing, or complete disruption of stabilizing ligaments.

Strain

An injury caused by overstretching, exertion, or tearing of muscle fibers or tendons.

Fracture

A mechanical breakdown or structural disruption in the continuity of a bone.

Contusion

A closed soft-tissue trauma caused by blunt force impact that damages capillary vessels, resulting in localized bleeding into tissues beneath unbroken skin.

Flail Chest

A chest wall instability caused by fractures of two or more adjacent ribs in two or more places each, producing paradoxical chest movement during inhalation and exhalation.

Tension Pneumothorax

A life-threatening thoracic emergency in which air enters the pleural space on inspiration and cannot exit, causing progressive high intrapleural pressure, lung collapse, mediastinal shift, hypotension, and obstructive shock.

Status Epilepticus

A neurological emergency defined as continuous, unremitting seizure activity lasting longer than $5\,minutes$, or recurrent seizures without full return of baseline consciousness in between.

Absence Seizure

A non-convulsive generalized seizure characterized by sudden, brief staring episodes lasting $5\text{ to }20\,seconds$ with immediate recovery and no postictal confusion, predominantly occurring in children.

Simple Partial Seizure

A localized focal seizure originating in a specific cerebral region without impairment of consciousness, presenting with unilateral motor or sensory manifestations.

Complex Partial Seizure

A focal seizure, commonly originating in the temporal lobe, characterized by impaired consciousness, automatisms (such as lip-smacking or wandering), and postictal amnesia or confusion.

Myxedema Coma

A severe, life-threatening decompensation of hypothyroidism presenting with profound hypothermia, bradycardia, hypotension, bradypnea, periorbital edema, and altered mental status.

Supine Hypotensive Syndrome

A drop in maternal blood pressure and cardiac output caused by compression of the inferior vena cava by the gravid uterus when a pregnant patient rests flat in the supine position.

Abruptio Placentae

The premature partial or complete detachment of a normally situated placenta from the uterine wall, typically presenting with sudden severe abdominal pain, uterine rigidity, and dark vaginal bleeding.

Relative Hypovolemia

A state of shock caused by widespread pathological vasodilation and increased vascular bed volume without an actual loss of total intravascular fluid mass (e.g., in septic, neurogenic, or anaphylactic shock).

SOAP Method

A systematic charting method for prehospital patient care reports structured as: Subjective information, Objective clinical findings, Assessment, and Plan for treatment.

Simplex Radio System

A wireless communications setup in which transmission and reception occur on the same single frequency, allowing only one party to transmit at a time.

Duplex Radio System

A telecommunications configuration using separate frequencies to transmit and receive simultaneously, allowing users to talk and listen concurrently.

Multiplex Radio System

A communications architecture capable of simultaneously transmitting multiple distinct streams of audio, telemetry, or data over a unified transmission medium.

Left Anterior Descending (LAD) Artery

The branch of the left coronary artery supplying the anterior wall of the left ventricle, apex, and anterior two-thirds of the interventricular septum; its blockage produces anterior myocardial infarction ($V_1\text{ to }V_4$).

Right Coronary Artery (RCA)

The coronary artery supplying the right atrium, right ventricle, inferior wall of the left ventricle, and the nodal conduction centers; its occlusion results in inferior wall MI demonstrated in leads $II$, $III$, and $aVF$.

Pia Mater

The delicate, vascular innermost meningeal membrane that clings directly to the surface contours of the brain and spinal cord.

Dura Mater

The thick, tough, fibrous outermost layer of the three meninges shielding the brain and spinal cord directly beneath the cranium.

Arachnoid Mater

The web-like intermediate layer of the meninges located between the outer dura mater and the inner pia mater.

Broselow Tape

A rapid pediatric emergency tape calibrated by body length to estimate child body weight, calculate appropriate medication dosages, and determine resuscitation equipment dimensions.

Vagus Nerve

The tenth cranial nerve ($CN\,X$) carrying parasympathetic efferent fibers to the heart that secrete acetylcholine to induce bradycardia and decrease conduction velocity.

Atropine

An anticholinergic / antimuscarinic drug that blocks acetylcholine at muscarinic receptors, reversing vagal tone to increase heart rate in symptomatic bradycardia and drying secretions in organophosphate toxicity.

Flumazenil

A specific competitive antagonist at central benzodiazepine receptors used to reverse sedation and respiratory depression from benzodiazepine overdoses.

Naloxone

A pure opioid receptor antagonist administered intravenously, intramuscularly, or intranasally to reverse central nervous system and respiratory depression induced by opioid poisoning.

Apgar Score

A standardized clinical evaluation performed at $1$ and $5\,minutes$ after birth to assess neonatal viability across Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration.