Midterm study guide

NREMT purpose?

Establish standards for EMS personnel.

Minimum cert level for direct ambulance patient care?

EMT.

Why are medical journals more authoritative than EMS magazines?

They are peer‑reviewed.

Positive, helpful form of stress under pressure?

Eustress.

Main practice to prevent spread of communicable disease?

Standard precautions.

Term for advising hospital of patient condition/treatment?

Handoff report.

Current status of Critical Incident Stress Debriefings (CISDs)?

Less common than they once were.

Family member screaming after a death usually indicates what grief stage?

Denial or anger.

Written authorization for EMS skill in a specific situation?

Protocol.

HIPAA: obligation of ambulance services?

Safeguard confidentiality but still provide necessary information for patient care.

Regulations defining legal expectations and limits for EMT?

Scope of practice.

Key elements to prove negligence?

Duty to act, failure to meet standard of care, and proximate causation.

Why off‑duty EMT not negligent if not stopping at crash?

No duty to act.

To avoid interfering with crime scene, EMT should?

Observe and document; avoid using patient’s phone or bathroom.

In anatomic position, palms face which way?

Forward.

Line running down side of chest from center of armpit?

Midaxillary line.

Term meaning “both sides,” e.g., both femurs fractured?

Bilateral.

Only movable bone in the face?

Mandible.

Tiny vessels around alveoli for gas exchange?

Capillaries.

Heart’s ability to generate its own impulses?

Automaticity.

Nervous system response causing ↑HR, dilated pupils, pale cool skin?

Sympathetic response.

Pressure‑sensing receptors in blood vessels?

Baroreceptors.

Main way CO₂ is transported back to lungs?

As bicarbonate ions.

Infant “soft spot” used to assess hydration?

Anterior fontanelle.

Life stage of peak physical condition?

Early adulthood.

Major challenge in late adulthood?

Maintaining independence.

Stair chair body mechanics: what must EMT avoid?

Leaning forward from the waist.

Move when life threat but time to protect spine?

Urgent move with spinal precautions.

Stretchers for patients ≥ about 800 lb?

Bariatric stretchers.

Lift to move non‑spinal patient bed→stretcher?

Direct ground lift.

Move used to reach critically injured in vehicles?

Extrication move.

Normal exhalation muscle action type?

Passive process (muscles relax).

Lower airway structures for gas exchange?

Alveoli.

RR of 4/min: EMT action?

Ventilate with a BVM.

Correct suction technique on insertion?

Insert catheter to depth without suction.

Airway maneuver for unresponsive unknown trauma?

Jaw‑thrust.

Effect of very fast respirations on volume?

Decreases tidal volume and gas exchange.

Term for air moving in and out of chest?

Ventilation.

Concerning airway sounds?

Snoring, gurgling, stridor, and crowing.

First step of primary assessment?

Form a general impression.

Most important data for responsive medical patient?

SAMPLE history.

SpO₂ of 91% indicates?

Hypoxemia.

Three techniques of physical exam?

Inspection, palpation, auscultation.

Persistent penile erection indicating possible spine injury?

Priapism from spinal cord injury.

Reassessment interval for stable patient?

Every 15 minutes.

If stable patient worsens en route, EMT must?

Reassess and treat life threats immediately.

Hospital radio report style and ID rule?

Brief and should not include patient’s name.

Two‑way radio at fixed site is called?

Base station.

For nitroglycerin, what must be adequate?

Blood pressure.

Why epinephrine in anaphylaxis?

Constricts blood vessels and dilates airway passages.

Main benefit of beta‑blockers?

Slow the heart rate.

Requirement to give oral glucose?

Patient conscious and able to swallow.

Main action of nitroglycerin on vessels?

Dilates blood vessels throughout the body.

Medical term for fainting?

Syncope.

RAS needs what to maintain consciousness?

Oxygen, glucose, and adequate perfusion.

Tool predicting ~70% stroke risk via at least one finding?

Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale.

Definition of status epilepticus?

Continuous seizures without intervening consciousness.

Serious complication of bacterial infection described?

Sepsis.

Most common cause of pediatric cardiac arrest?

Respiratory failure.

Early sign of shock (hypoperfusion)?

Restlessness.

Best dressing for abdominal evisceration?

Sterile dressing moistened with saline.

SBP that indicates trauma‑center need?

Less than 90 mmHg.

Motorcycle crash helmet that prevents neutral alignment: EMT should?

Remove the helmet.

“Six Ps” of extremity assessment?

Pain, pallor, pulse, paralysis, paresthesia, and pressure.

Child with barky cough suggests what; added drooling suggests what?

Croup; drooling suggests epiglottitis.

Severe hypothermia behavior/muscle tone?

Altered mental status and loss of muscle tone.

Term for combining patient and carrying device?

Packaging.

START triage: alert, walking patient color?

Green.

Triaged color for amputated leg with rapid, shallow breathing?

Red.

Signs on vehicles identifying hazardous materials?

Placards.

Head protection during auto extrication?

NFPA standard rescue helmet.

Supine hypotensive syndrome mechanism?

Pregnant supine; fetus compresses inferior vena cava.

Breech presentation description?

Infant presents buttocks first.