This exam review is a little larger than others due to this popular EMS testing and patient type. Take your time and remember that this is about building your knowledge and not about memorizing exam questions.
Archive | Cardiac Emergencies
Cardiac Emergencies | Chest Pain
Causes of chest pain – potentially life threatening problems Angina: Angina Pectoris is an intermittent attack of chest pain due to a reduction in blood flow to the heart muscle >>> exertion, stress, cold weather Stable Unstable Progressive Pre-infarction AMI: Acute Myocardial Infarction: death of an area of heart muscle due toblockage of blood flow […]
Cardiac Emergencies | ECG Monitoring
Electrocardiographic Monitoring: a record of the electrical activity in the heart, transferred to the ECG machine and displayed or printed on paper Boxes on the paper represent time: .2 sec largest lines Positive impulses go upward, negative go downward Flatline: Isoelectric line is produced if no electrical impulse is present P-Wave: occurs first and represents […]
Cardiac Emergencies | Electrophysiology
Electrophysiology Automaticity: self-generate electrical activity Excitability: respond to appropriate electrical stimulus Conductivity: transmits stimulus from cell to cell Contractility: Contract when stimulated by the appropriate electrical stimulus Regulation of heart function: comes partially from the brain (autonomic), from hormones if the endocrine system and from the heart tissue Barorecepters: sensory nerve endings that sense changes […]
Cardiac Emergencies | Inherent Pacemakers
Inherent Pacemaker Rates of the Heart “Foci” or the focus: where electrical impulses start, Organized rhythm is required for perfusion Complexes: blocks of rhythms Isoelectric line: midline on an ECG, up is depolarizing, down in repolarizing Normal Sinus rhythm: (NSR) originates in the uppermost node, the SA (Sino Atrial)node, rate is usually between 60 and […]
Cardiac Emergencies | General Overview
Epidemiology: Cardiovascular Disease is number 1 killer, approx. 2600 die each day, High BP, Coronary Heart Disease, AMI, Angina, Stroke, Rheumatic heart disease and CHF, 1 in 5 adults has some form. Risk Factors: Age: death rates rise with each year of life Family history: predisposition Hypertension: major risk factor BP>170/95 = 5 times higher […]