Fisdap Cardiology | ACCURATE QUESTIONS
AND DETAILED ANSWERS | GUARANTEED
PASS | GRADED A | LATEST UPDATE 2024-
2025 WITH 100 QUESTIONS
Chest compression effectiveness is MOST effectively assessed by:
A) listening for a heartbeat with each compression.
B) carefully measuring the depth of each compression.
C) palpating for a carotid pulse with each compression.
D) measuring the systolic blood pressure during compressions.
- ANSWERS-C) palpating for a carotid pulse with each compression.
When chest compressions are in progress, the most reliable method of determining their
effectiveness is to palpate for a carotid or femoral pulse. If
compressions are of adequate depth for the patient's age, you should be able to feel a
pulsation during each compression. It should be noted that you may
not be able to feel a pulse in some patients, despite adequately performed chest compressions.
For example, if the patient has lost a significant amount of
blood, there is less volume to create the pressure wave against the arterial wall. If the patient
has a pericardia! tamponade or tension pneumothorax
(examples of obstructive shock), then the forward flow of blood may be obstructed; in these
cases, you may not feel a pulse during chest compressions.
An 88-year-old woman experienced a syncopal episode. She is now conscious, but reports
dizziness and generalized weakness. Her pulse is 170 beats/min and irregular. The EMT should
recognize that t his patient's syncope was MOST likely caused by:
A) an acute cardiac dysrhythmia.
B) increased parasympathetic tone.
Because her heart is beating so fast, you should suspect that her syncope occurred because of a
drop in her blood pressure secondary to reduced ventricular
filling time; the faster the heart beats, the less time there is for the ventricles to fill in between
contractions. A fast, irregular pulse indicates the presence of a
cardiac dysrhythmia. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for increasing the heart
rate, whereas the parasympathetic nervous system is
responsible for slowing it down. Therefore, if parasympathetic nervous system function was
increased or sympathetic nervous system function was
decreased, you would expect the patient to experience bradycardia, not tachycardia.
While performing CPR on a patient who is wearing an external defibrillator vest, the device
alarms and a voice states that a shock is about to
be delivered. What should you do?
A) Remove the battery from the device and apply your AED
B) Cease patient contact until the shock has been delivered
C) Continue CPR because the vest delivers a low energy shock
D) Allow it to shock, but immediately check for a carotid pulse
- ANSWERS-B) Cease patient contact until the shock has been delivered
An alternative to the implantable cardiac defibrillator is the external defibrillator vest. This
device is a vest with built-in monitoring electrodes and
defibrillation pads; it is worn by the patient under his or her clothing. The monitor provides
alerts and voice prompts when it recognizes a lethal dysrhythmia
and before a shock is delivered. Unlike the implantable defibrillator, the defibrillator vest uses
high-energy shocks similar to an AED; therefore, you should
, avoid contact with the patient until the shock has been delivered. Immediately after the shock
has been delivered, you should immediately resume chest
compressions; do not stop to check for a pulse. Removing the battery or othe,wise disabling the
device when it is about to deliver a shock is clearly
inappropriate. The vest should be left in place while CPR is being performed unless it interferes
with chest compressions. If it is necessary to remove the
vest, simply remove the battery from the monitor, remove the vest, and apply your AED.
A SO-year-old man with a history of hypertension began experiencing chest pressure while
mowing his lawn. After taking a baby aspirin and
resting for approximately 10 minutes, the pressure in his chest completely resolved. Which of
the following would BEST explain this?
A) The patient's blood pressure increased after he ceased exertion, causing his chest pressure
to resolve.
B) The cessation of exertion decreased the workload of the heart and blood flow to the
myocardium improved.
C) The aspirin dissolved a small clot in a coronary artery and reestablished blood flow to that
part of the heart.
D) Blood flow to a part of the myocardium was restored because of const riction of a diseased
coronary artery.
- ANSWERS-B) The cessation of exertion decreased the workload of the heart and blood flow to
the myocardium improved.
The patient's symptoms are consistent with angina. Angina is a condition in which cardiac
oxygen demand exceeds the available supply; it indicates the
presence of coronary artery disease. In this case, the patient's chest pressure resolved after he
stopped exerting himself; this decreased the workload on the
heart, provided for some dilation (not constriction) of the coronary arteries, and rebalanced
cardiac oxygen supply and demand. As a result, blood flow
through the diseased coronary artery improved and his chest pressure resolved. An increase in
blood pressure, which increases cardiac workload, would not
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