Question

A nurse has arrived on the scene of a tornado which collapsed an apartment building. Of the four patients lying in the parking lot who should she treat first?
A. A teenage girl trapped under an overturned piece of furniture. Only obvious injuries are scrapes, bruises, and a "goose egg" on her forehead. RR 24, pulse 120 and strong, good capillary perfusion.

B. Middle aged male. Unconscious. Large areas of red blistered burns on arms, chest, and face, with singed hair on face and head. Horrible burnt flesh smell. Respiration is shallow, irregular and very slow at 4-5/min.

C. An Infant girl about a year old, found under a dead victim . Crying loudly, moving arms and legs, has blood on her, but with close examination, no evidence of injury. The child's clothes are soaked from water. No breathing distress, RR 28.

D. A young woman found, face down. Large bloody wound on the back of her head, with visible blood leaking through clothes in many spots. When you roll her over, she is limp and completely unresponsive. When you open her eyes, one pupil is large and fixed. Breathing is slow and irregular at 14 per minute, pulse is 60 beats per minute.

Answer 1

Answer:

Option C. An Infant girl about a year old, found under a dead victim . Crying loudly, moving arms and legs, has blood on her, but with close examination, no evidence of injury. The child's clothes are soaked from water. No breathing distress, RR 28.

Explanation:

A careful observation of the four patients lying in the parking lot, suggest that they will be needing a good medical attention. But on the contrary, the infant girl who was in soaked clothes can be the first and best to give attention to as she can easily be covered with a blanket to keep her warm and to prevent abnormal low body temperature.

Answer 2

Answer:

C. An Infant girl about a year old, found under a dead victim . Crying loudly, moving arms and legs, has blood on her, but with close examination, no evidence of injury. The child's clothes are soaked from water. No breathing distress, RR 28.

Explanation:

Under the hospital or medical color code system, the patient with color GREEN condition should be attends to with immediate effect because she is the only one with highest chance of surviving which means option C is the answer. Other options are either in condition with color RED or BLACK.

The nurse should therefore assess the infant girl because she is the only client that can be treated fastest and effectively. The infant girl that was soaked with blood can be covered with a blanket to prevent hypothermia 'a condition that occur when the body loses heat faster than it can produce heat, causing a dangerously low body temperature'.

The other patients will require intensive treatment or may not even survive it.