You are managing a patient with a large flail segment in the right lateral chest. The immediate threat to this patient's life is:
a. blood loss.
b. hypoxia.
c. infection.
d. rib fractures.
Question 2An OEC candidate indicates that she understands the difference between a pneumothorax and a tension pneumothorax when she makes which of the following statements?
a. A tension pneumothorax causes blood to accumulate around the lung; a pneumothorax involves the accumulation of air only around the lung.
b. A tension pneumothorax can cause cardiac output to decrease; a pneumothorax does not.
c. A pneumothorax describes a collapsed lung; a tension pneumothorax involves both a collapsed lung and blood loss.
d. A pneumothorax is caused by a closed chest injury; a tension pneumothorax is caused by an open chest injury.
Question 3You are assisting at an accident scene and are asked to apply a dressing over a sucking chest wound on the patient's left anterior chest wall. Which of the following items would you use?
a. A dry sterile gauze dressing
b. Sterile gauze soaked in sterile water
c. A clean cravat
d. Vaseline gauze
Question 4You have placed an occlusive dressing on a puncture wound on the right side of the chest of a 33-year-old woman. During your ongoing assessment your primary concern is monitoring the injury for:
a. arterial bleeding.
b. infection at the wound site.
c. tension pneumothorax.
d. ecchymosis at the wound site.
Question 5You treated a 19 year old with a puncture wound to the chest by covering the wound with an impermeable dressing. Now, as you perform your ongoing assessment, you note that the patient is tachypneic and is complaining of difficulty breathing. Breath sounds on the side of the injury are also diminished. Which of the following actions should you take immediately?
a. Assist his breathing with a bag-valve mask.
b. Lift a corner of the dressing from the wound for a few seconds; then reapply and check his breath sounds.
c. Add another layer to the dressing.
d. Load the patient quickly and transport him to a higher level of care.
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