Emergency Preparedness / Disaster triage

The weather center has issued a tornado warning. As a charge nurse in the ED, what type of disaster do you anticipate will be activated?

• Pandemic

• Internal Disaster

• External Disaster

• Mass Casualty event

After the crash of a 747 airplane at the local airport, the nurse is performing disaster triage. Which patient would be given a black tag?

• 38-year-old male, left hand injury, moaning

• 26-year-old male , with an open femur fracture

• 52-year-old female, crying, with facial lacerations

• 42-year-old male, screaming, full-thickness burns to torso, upper and lower extremities

An ED nurse informs the charge nurse that she can't sleep and continues to think about the school shooting victim that were in the ED last week. What is the charge nurse's best response?

• "Get some rest, the memories will fade eventually."

• "You looked stressed. Why don't you take a break? I'll cover your patients."

• "Take a few days off and go somewhere with your family. That will help you forget."

• "The occupational nurse can help you explore critical incident stress debriefing options."

The emergency nurse is working in the triage area. Which of these four patients should the nurse evaluate first?

• 72-year-old woman who has a productive cough and a temperature of 101.6 ⁰ F

• 9-year-old boy who has a broken arm, with the bone protruding from the wrist

• 22-year-old man who is bent over in pain and believes he has kidney stones

• 62-year-old woman who is reporting severe chest pain, nausea, dizziness, and profuse sweating

A woman has just been admitted to the ED and reports feeling dizzy. As the nurse asks the patient her name, the patient suddenly falls unconscious. What is the priority nursing action?

• Obtain vital signs

• Ask the husband to leave the room.

• Evaluate the patient's level of consciousness.

• Establish a patent airway by positioning, suctioning, and administering oxygen, as needed

A woman is admitted to the ED for complications from a reported fall in her kitchen. The nurse notices multiple bruises around the patient's face and upper arms. She appears upset and has been crying but states that the patient fell in the kitchen. He agrees to leave the room for the nurse to examine the patient. What is the appropriate nursing intervention?

• Complete the physical examination.

• Ask the ED's forensic nurse examiner to see the patient.

• State, "is everything okay between you and your husband?"

• After the examination, make an anonymous call to social services to report suspected domestic violence.

A patient is brought into the ED after becoming ill while working on a construction site. During the assessment he reports weakness, nausea, and vomiting. His blood pressure is abnormally low, and he reports severe left lower leg pain, unsure if something bit him. What is this patient most likely suffering from?

• Snakebite

• Heat exhaustion

• Myocardial infarction

• Brown recluse spider bite

A 21-year-old woman comes to the ED displaying signs of respiratory distress. She is anxious and believes she was stung by a wasp while gardening in her yard. She states she has not been stung since she was a child, at which time she had a severe reaction that required hospitalization for a day. What is the appropriate nursing intervention?

• Prepare to administer epinephrine IM, oral diphenhydramine, and oxygen.

• Remove the stinger, apply ice to the area, and administer epinephrine intravenously.

• Obtain vital signs, administering oxygen, and prepare to administer epinephrine intravenously.

• Prepare to administer oral diphenhydramine, followed by epinephrine IM, and establish and IV infusion with normal saline.

A woman is brought to the ED by her boyfriend. They were hiking when they were caught in a snowstorm, and now she has severe frostbite on her feet. The boyfriend had applied dry chemical warmers and was rubbing her feet before she was admitted. The nurse expects these actions to result in which outcome.

• Reduced area of injury

• Possible further tissue injury

• Reduced swelling of the injured area

• Less pain during the rewarming session

You're working as a triage nurse during a disaster situation. Based on the triage color code tags placed on each of the wounded, which tag color represents the wounded who have the highest priority.

• Green

• Yellow

• Red

• Black