12 Integrated Clinical Cases and Exam Practice Free Online FlashCards

What are the steps in the clinical-judgment cycle?

Recognize cues, analyze them, define a working hypothesis, generate options, act, and evaluate the response.

What should guide the first priorities in a patient assessment?

Check scene safety, general impression, responsiveness, airway, breathing, circulation, and major bleeding; treat immediate threats as they are found.

When should a paramedic reassess a patient?

Repeat relevant vital signs, examination findings, and measurements after interventions and whenever the patient changes; continue monitoring during transport.

What information belongs in a concise patient handoff?

Include age, chief concern, onset or last-known-well time, important findings and trends, treatment and response, relevant history or medications, and estimated arrival.

What do hypotension, poor perfusion, and wet lung sounds suggest in chest discomfort?

Hypotension, poor perfusion, and pulmonary congestion raise concern for cardiogenic shock, though other causes of shock remain possible.

When is nitroglycerin inappropriate in a chest-pain patient?

Do not give nitroglycerin to a hypotensive patient. Check contraindications, including relevant medication use, before administering medication.

What can drowsiness and decreasing respiratory effort indicate in severe distress?

Treat it as possible ventilatory failure and support ventilation as indicated; decreasing effort and responsiveness in an exhausted patient can signal deterioration.

Does improved oxygen saturation alone prove respiratory improvement?

No. A better saturation alone does not prove that ventilation or perfusion has improved; reassess the patient and relevant measurements together.

What should be done when focal neurologic deficits occur with low glucose?

Treat hypoglycemia under protocol and repeat the neurologic assessment. Persistent deficits still require urgent stroke evaluation.

How do last-known-well time and symptom discovery time differ?

Last-known-well is when the patient was last at baseline; discovery time is when symptoms were noticed. Record them separately.

What dangerous cause of shock must remain in consideration after major trauma without external bleeding?

Suspect possible internal hemorrhage. The absence of visible bleeding does not exclude life-threatening blood loss.

What intervention must not be delayed in suspected life-threatening anaphylaxis?

Administer epinephrine by the authorized route and dose under protocol; do not delay it for adjunctive treatments.