ALS/ACLS - Red Cross Final Exam

The resuscitation team suspects that hyperkalemia is the cause of cardiac arrest in a patient brought to the emergency department. Which finding on a 12-lead ECG would confirm this suspicion? - Answer- Wide-complex ventricular rhythm or tall, pointed T waves A patient with dyspnea and a change in mental status arrives at the emergency department. The healthcare team completes the necessary assessments and begins to care for the patient, including initiating cardiac monitoring, pulse oximetry, supplemental oxygen and vascular access. The team reviews the patient's ECG rhythm strip, as shown in the following figure. Which agent would the team most likely administer? - Answer- Atropine 0.5 mg every 4 to 5 minutes A patient experiencing an unstable bradyarrhythmia does not respond to atropine or transcutaneous pacing. Which intervention would the healthcare provider use next? - Answer- Administration of an epinephrine infusion A patient's ECG reveals a tachyarrhythmia. The patient is hemodynamically stable and has a heart rate ranging from 120 to 135 beats per minute. Based on the findings of the secondary assessment, which statement(s) by the patient would the team interpret as a possible contributing cause? - Answer- 1. "I've had a terrible cold with a horrible cough and fever the past week." 2. "I've been so anxious lately because I just lost my job." 3. "I've been vomiting for the past 2 days from a gastrointestinal bug." A patient's ECG reveals a narrow QRS complex with a regular rhythm, indicating a narrow-complex supraventricular tachyarrhythmia. The patient is hemodynamically stable. Which intervention would be initiated first? - Answer- Vagal maneuvers A patient in the telemetry unit is stable. Cardiac monitoring indicates the patient has ventricular tachycardia with a pulse. Further assessment reveals that the corrected QT interval is greater than 0.46 seconds. Which treatment would be appropriate at this time? - Answer- Synchronized cardioversion An ECG strip of a patient in the emergency department reveals the following rhythm. Which feature would the healthcare provider interpret as indicating atrial fibrillation? - Answer- Absence of discrete P waves and presence of irregularly irregular QRS complexes A patient is brought into the emergency department. The patient does not have a pulse. The cardiac monitor shows the following rhythm. The team interprets this as which condition? - Answer- Ventricular tachycardia A patient with acute renal failure experiences cardiac arrest. Just before the cardiac arrest, the