Scenario 1: You Are the Emergency Medical Responder

1. Lesson 28: Putting It All Together Scenario 1: You Are the Emergency Medical Responder You arrive at the scene of a grocery store in response to a call that an older woman has collapsed in the store. One of the bystanders told you that she saw the woman reaching for an item on the shelf when she suddenly fell to the floor. The woman is lying on the floor. Her eyes are open and she appears to be attempting to talk, but you cannot understand her. The one side of her face appears to be drooping and she is drooling. You notice what looks like urine underneath her buttocks and legs and vomit around her mouth and on the floor.

2. Scenario 2: You Are the Emergency Medical Responder You arrive at the scene involving a young adult who got lost while hiking through a mountain trail. He was finally discovered after spending two nights in the mountains where the temperature was in the single digits and 10 inches of snow fell. His clothing is wet from the elements and his eyes appear glazed. His hands and face are cold to the touch. The fingers on his left hand appear shiny and white.

3. Scenario 3: You Are the Emergency Medical Responder You arrive at a college dormitory in response to a 9-1-1 call about a student who has “passed out.” The patient’s roommate, who made the call, meets you at the door to the room. He states that he, the patient and several other friends had gone out to the campus bar to celebrate the end of final exams, arriving back at the dorm about 3 hours ago. The patient had been “chugging beers and downing shots of tequila all night.” The roommate tells you that he stumbled to the bathroom and then just “passed out.” The patient is lying face-down on the bathroom floor between the toilet and the sink.

4. Putting It All Together • Altered mental status: drowsiness, confusion, partial or complete loss of consciousness • Seizures • Generalized • Partial • Absence • Febrile

5. Putting It All Together • Diabetes: • Hypoglycemia: decreased blood glucose levels • Hyperglycemia: increased blood glucose levels • Stroke: • Face • Arms • Speech • Time

6. Putting It All Together • Routes of poisoning: ingestion, inhalation, absorption and injection • Categories of substances: stimulants, hallucinogens, depressants, narcotics, inhalants and cannabis products • Environmental emergencies: heat-related illnesses and cold-related emergencies, bites and stings, and water rescues • Behavioral emergencies: scene size-up and rapport are key