BLS Principles Flashcard 2

C. Rationale: The most basic principle in life support management is the early recognition and treatment of a cardiac arrest patient, which includes high-quality CPR and early defibrillation.

D. Rationale: Compression-only CPR circumvents any anxiety or reluctance that prevents an untrained lay rescuer from performing CPR. Providing CPR has better outcomes than not providing it at all. Conventional CPR has higher rates of survival than compression-only CPR; however, option C does not Answer why the AHA recommends compression-only CPR.

A. Rationale: Compression-only CPR means that untrained bystanders can perform CPR without providing ventilations. Providing only chest compressions is better than not performing CPR at all. Compression-only CPR entails giving chest compressions to a cardiac arrest patient and nothing else.

C. Rationale: The most important and detrimental consequence of drowning is hypoxia. Thus, oxygenation and ventilation are prioritized in these patients, followed by circulation. AHA ACLS guidelines recommend following the Airway-Breathing-Circulation sequence for patients with cardiac arrest due to drowning.

B. Rationale: Ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia are the only two cardiac arrest rhythms that respond to defibrillation. Supraventricular tachycardia with a pulse can be treated with medication or shocked with synchronized cardioversion. It is not a cardiac arrest rhythm. Asystole and pulseless electrical activity are non-shockable cardiac arrest rhythms.

C. Rationale: The success of resuscitation in the out-of-hospital setting will depend on the skills and training of the community. It is not the number of highly skilled doctors that matters, but the number of trained lay-rescuers in increasing the survival rate of patients with sudden out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

C. Rationale: Agonal gasp is a brainstem reflex causing an abnormal breathing pattern characterized by gasping, accompanied by strange vocalizations and myoclonus. Left untreated, this can progress to complete apnea and eventually cardiac arrest.

C. Rationale: Agonal gasps are reactional or reflex breaths in cardiac arrest. These are slow gasping breaths, but the patient is unconscious, and no gas exchange or ventilation is taking place. Cheyne-Stokes breathing is a periodic breathing pattern (hyperpnea followed by apnea) brought about by a brain injury or lesion that may affect the breathing centers. Kussmaul breathing is a hyperpnea pattern of breathing brought about by metabolic acidosis from disorders such as diabetic ketoacidosis. Tachypnea is known as fast breathing and can be a normal adaptive breathing pattern.

B. Rationale: The most common causes of a witnessed sudden cardiac arrest are ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia. These can cause a chaotic rhythm where the risk of hemodynamic collapse is significant. This finding is the reason immediate defibrillation is necessary. Connecting the patient to an AED is critical. Supraventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation are not cardiac arrest rhythms. Asystole is a cardiac arrest rhythm but is less likely to occur in witnessed sudden cardiac arrest.

B. Rationale: The proper way to assess the patient’s responsiveness is to tap their shoulders and ask in a loud tone, “Are you ok?” If the person remains unresponsive, the rescuer should check the patient’s pulse and breathing. Pinching or hurting the patient to elicit a response is ill-advised. Checking a patient’s pupillary light reflex is used to perform a neurologic examination and not to determine cardiac arrest.