Persimmon Pesky has been working hard on a pre-med program at a nearby university, but has decided to persue her EMT certification in the meantime. She theorized that the certificate would give her a means of doing some substantive volunteering, which everyone said would look good on a medical school application. Her own school did not offer this certification, so she signed up at a local community college for an evening course.
Class started with some basic EMT info and medical vocabulary before moving onto the patient assessment. Next was basic life support and oxygen therapy. Then emergency care for bleeding and shock, injuries, medical emergencies, childbirth basics, burns, environmental emergencies. Finally how to transfer and transport the patient.
Persimmon practiced skills with her new classmates week after week- they took each other's vitals and did fake assessments on each other. They did CPR on manequins. They bandaged various body parts, held traction of broken necks and lower extremities, and splinted arms and legs. One weekend they even had a fieldtrip to learn how to break windshields and extricate patients from crashed vehicles safely. On and on it went. Eventually, it was time to take her final exam. She demostrated her practical skills and then took a written exam.
Here are some examples of questions she found on her exam. See if you can figure out the answers to find out where Persimmon stashed a medicine bottle as a little momento of her time here for all her fellow geocachers to find.
You can assume N40 AB.CDE W74 FG.HIJ
After arriving at an emergency scene, the first thing to assess is what? whether the area is safe for the emergency responder(A=3) or the patient's airway(A=2), the weather(A=4).
After assessing a non-responding patient's airway and breathing, what is the next thing to assess? patient's pulse(B=0), patient's bones(B=1), patient's identification(B=9).
A first degree burn is best treated with what? slather some butter on the wound(C=5), apply dry ice to the would(C=3) apply cool water to the wound(C=4).
If you suspect a patient has had a possible cervical spine injury you should do what? have the patient demonstrate range of motion of their neck(D=3) or carefully position a cervical spine collar and keep the patient from moving their neck whatsoever(D=9).
If excessive bleeding of a foot is not controlled by applying direct pressure or elevating the bleeding limb, the next thing to do is what? amputate(E=1), apply a tourniquet(E=9), apply pressure at the pulse point proximal to the bleeding(E=5).
The EMT is dispatched to a park where a 13 year-old female has a severe, life-threatening injury. Her friends called 9-1-1 after they could not reach her parents. What gives the EMT the right to begin treatment? implied consent(F=2), expressed consent(F=1), informed consent(F=3).
If there is a major open wound to the neck, what kind of dressing must be applied? a non-occlusive dressing(G=2), an all-sided occlusive dressing(G=1), gauze pads followed by an adhesive dressing(G=9).
In the mnemonic "CBRNE," the letter "R" stands for "radiological," as in a radiological terrorist attack. Under which of the remaining types of terrorist attacks would an anthrax poisoning fall? chemical(H=9), biological(H=8), nuclear(H=3), explosive(H=1).
What is the final stage of hyperthermia? heat cramps(I=7), heat exhaustion(I=8), heat stroke(I=2), heat faint(I=3).
The practice of protecting yourself from the patient's body fluids or bacteria is called: Personal protective equipment(J=1), scene safety(J=5), wearing gloves and a protective gown(J=3), body substance isolation(J=6)