Exam 11: Baseline Vital Signs, Monitoring Devices, and History Taking

A family has called you for a 41-year-old male they cannot wake up. They state he has been threatening to kill himself and believe that he may have intentionally overdosed on his pain medications. As you enter the patient's bedroom, you observe him supine on the floor with his eyes closed. As he breathes, you hear snoring respirations. As a knowledgeable EMT, you recognize which one of the following?

You have been dispatched to a residence for a 14-year-old female complaining of abdominal pain. As you enter the living room, you see the conscious patient lying on a couch with her father and an Emergency Medical Responder at her side. Which one of the following actions would be most appropriate to perform first?

Which statement is true regarding vital signs obtained from a patient with nausea and vomiting?

A female patient who called 911 when she noticed blood in her stool is scared and anxious. Her pulse rate is 124 and her blood pressure is 88/60 mmHg. After you get her vital signs, she nervously asks you if they are normal. Given her anxiety, you should:

The EMT should recognize normal skin color in a healthy patient as:

During the primary assessment of a geriatric patient complaining of shortness of breath and fever, you quickly locate the radial pulse. What should you do next?

You determine a patient's heart rate to be 48 beats per minute. That heart rate would be categorized as:

Which of the following signs related to breathing would be most concerning to the EMT?

When applying the pulse oximeter sensor to a patient's finger, he asks you what it is for. Your response would be:

A patient presents with extremely pale skin. His family states that this is not his normal skin color. His vital signs are pulse 108, respirations 18, blood pressure 102/86, and SpO₂ 96% Which one of the following complaints would make the most sense given this clinical presentation?

Which one of the following is necessary to obtain an accurate pulse oximetry measurement?

Which one of the following indicates that the EMT has correctly positioned the blood pressure cuff on the patient's arm?

To test a patient's capillary refill, the EMT will:

Which patient description contains only vital signs?

Which one of the following indicates a normal pupillary exam?

You are trying to get a pulse oximeter reading on an 18-month-old child with difficulty breathing. Every time you place the sensor on the finger, he becomes upset and removes it. The EMT's best course of action would be to:

You are assessing a confused dark-skinned patient complaining of a headache. When checking his skin color, you should:

When obtaining a medical history using the SAMPLE mnemonic, which one of the following statements relates to the "P" component?

Assessment of a patient's skin color reveals a bluish discoloration. As a knowledgeable EMT, you should identify:

You are attempting to get a history from a 56-year-old female who is short of breath. When you ask questions, the daughter continually answers for the patient. To best handle this situation, you should: