SRTC EMS Chapter 15

Your patient was struck in the chest with a baseball bat during a bar fight. A crackling or crunching sensation that is felt when air escapes from its normal passageways and is trapped under the skin is called:

• crepitation.

• subcutaneous emphysema.

• distention.

• tension pneumothorax.

You are called for a patient who was discovered unconscious in his bed this morning. You immediately complete a primary assessment and determine that he is breathing and has a good pulse. What should you do next?

• Complete a rapid physical exam.

• Try to locate all of his medications.

• Begin transport immediately.

• Ask the family what happened.

In medical terms, bruises are known as which of the following?

• Contusion

• Abrasion

• Deformity

• Laceration

Which of the following situations is most likely to result in hidden or unsuspected injury?

• Deformity of the interior compartment of the vehicle

• Seat belt use by the vehicle occupants

• A vehicle without air bags

• Collisions that occur at night

Your patient is a 45-year-old female who complains of "twisting her ankle" when she slipped on a patch of ice. Which of the following is not appropriate?

• Detailed physical exam

• Secondary assessment

• Providing emotional support, if necessary

• Questioning about any other complaints or areas of pain

When checking breath sounds in a trauma patient, what should the EMT assess for first?

• Presence and equality

• Wheezing and stridor

• Rate and oxygen saturation

• Edema and rhonchi

The patient was a driver in a lateral impact motor vehicle collision. During the assessment of his chest, the EMT notes a segment of the chest wall moving in the opposite direction from the rest of the chest. Which of the following best describes this finding?

• Intercostal retractions

• Paradoxical motion

• Flutter segment

• Tension pneumothorax

In which of the following patients should you check for the possibility of spinal injury?

• An unresponsive diabetic who appears to have fallen down

• A responsive patient with no history of injury who is complaining of a headache and neck pain

• An unresponsive patient found in her bed with no obvious injury

• All of the above

In the assessment of a responsive medical patient, which of the following will provide you with the most important information?

• Patient's medical history

• Detailed physical exam

• Focused physical exam

• Baseline vital signs

What term describes a permanent surgical opening in the neck through which a patient breathes?

• Pneumothorax

• Tracheostomy

• Crepitation

• Stoma