©PREP4EXAMS@2024 [REAL-EXAM-DUMPS] Thursday, August 1, 2024 11:09 AM
West Coast EMT Block 2 Vocab Study
Guide with Complete Solutions
Accessory Muscles - ✔️✔️The secondary muscles of respiration. They include the neck
muscles (sternocleidomastoids), the chest pectoralis major muscles, and the abdominal
muscles.
Altered Mental Status - ✔️✔️Any deviation from alert and oriented to person, place, time,
and event, or any deviation from a patient's normal baseline mental status.
Ausculate - ✔️✔️To listen to sounds within an organ with a stethoscope.
AVPU Scale - ✔️✔️A method of assessing the level of consciousness by determining
whether the patient is awake and alert, responsive to verbal stimuli or pain, or
unresponsive; used principally early in the assessment process.
Blood Pressure - ✔️✔️The pressure that the blood exerts against the walls of the arteries
as it passes through them.
Bradycardia - ✔️✔️A slow heart rate, less than 60 beats/min.
Breath Sounds - ✔️✔️An indication of air movement in the lungs, usually assessed with a
stethoscope.
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,©PREP4EXAMS@2024 [REAL-EXAM-DUMPS] Thursday, August 1, 2024 11:09 AM
Capillary Refill - ✔️✔️A test that evaluates distal circulatory system function by squeezing
(blanching) blood from an area such as a nail bed and watching the speed of its return
after releasing the pressure.
Capnography - ✔️✔️A noninvasive method to quickly and efficiently provide information
on a patient's ventilatory status, circulation, and metabolism; effectively measures the
concentration of carbon dioxide in expired air over time.
Carbon Dioxide - ✔️✔️Carbon dioxide is a component of air and typically makes up 0.3%
of air at sea level; also a waste product exhaled during expiration by the respiratory
system.
Chief Complaint - ✔️✔️The reason a patient called for help; also, the patient's response
to questions such as "What's wrong?" or "What happened?"
Coagulate - ✔️✔️To form a clot to plug an opening in an injured blood vessel and stop
bleeding.
Conjunctiva - ✔️✔️The delicate membrane that lines the eyelids and covers the exposed
surface of the eye.
Crackles - ✔️✔️A crackling, rattling breath sound that signals fluid in the air spaces of the
lungs.
Crepitus - ✔️✔️A grating or grinding sensation caused by fractured bone ends or joints
rubbing together; also air bubbles under the skin that produce a crackling sound or
crinkly feeling.
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,©PREP4EXAMS@2024 [REAL-EXAM-DUMPS] Thursday, August 1, 2024 11:09 AM
Cyanosis - ✔️✔️A blue-gray skin color that is caused by a reduced level of oxygen in the
blood.
DCAP-BTLS - ✔️✔️A mnemonic for assessment in which each area of the body is
evaluated for Deformities, Contusions, Abrasions, Punctures/penetrations, Burns,
Tenderness, Lacerations, and Swelling.
Diaphoretic - ✔️✔️Characterized by light or profuse sweating.
Diastolic Pressure - ✔️✔️The pressure that remains in the arteries during the relaxing
phase of the heart's cycle (diastole) when the left ventricle is at rest.
Distracting Injury - ✔️✔️Any injury that prevents the patient from noticing other injuries he
or she may have, even severe injuries; for example, a painful femur or tibia fracture that
prevents the patient from noticing back pain associated with a spinal fracture.
Focused Assessment - ✔️✔️A type of physical assessment typically performed on
patients who have sustained nonsignificant mechanisms of injury or on responsive
medical patients. This type of examination is based on the chief complaint and focuses
on one body system or part.
Frostbite - ✔️✔️Damage to tissues as the result of exposure to cold; frozen or partially
frozen body parts are frostbitten.
General Impression - ✔️✔️The overall initial impression that determines the priority for
patient care; based on the patient's surroundings, the mechanism of injury, signs and
symptoms, and the chief complaint.
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, ©PREP4EXAMS@2024 [REAL-EXAM-DUMPS] Thursday, August 1, 2024 11:09 AM
Golden Hour - ✔️✔️The time from injury to definitive care, during which treatment of
shock and traumatic injuries should occur because survival potential is best; also called
the Golden Period.
Guarding - ✔️✔️Involuntary muscle contractions of the abdominal wall to minimize the
pain of abdominal movement; a sign of peritonitis.
History Taking - ✔️✔️A step within the patient assessment process that provides detail
about the patient's chief complaint and an account of the patient's signs and symptoms.
Hypertension - ✔️✔️Blood pressure that is higher than the normal range.
Hypotension - ✔️✔️Blood pressure that is lower than the normal range.
Hypothermia - ✔️✔️A condition in which the internal body temperature falls below 95°F
(35°C) after exposure to a cold environment.
Incident Command System - ✔️✔️A system implemented to manage disasters and mass-
and multiple-casualty incidents in which section chiefs, including finance, logistics,
operations, and planning, report to the incident commander. Also referred to as the
incident management system.
Jaundice - ✔️✔️Yellow skin or sclera that is caused by liver disease or dysfunction.
Labored Breathing - ✔️✔️Breathing that requires greater than normal effort; may be
slower or faster than normal and characterized by grunting, stridor, and use of
accessory muscles.
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