Cardiovascular Emergencies

The pulmonary artery is the only artery that carries deoxygenated blood.

The AV node is the normal pacemaker of the heart.

Impulsivity is the ability of the heart muscle cells to contract spontaneously without stimulus from the nervous system.

The sympathetic nervous system prepares the body to handle stress by increasing heart rates, and dilating blood vessels in the muscles.

The formula for cardiac output is stroke volume x respiratory rate

Atherosclerosis allows the coronary arteries to easily accommodate increased blood flow and helps to prevent chest pain during exertion.

You can still use an AED on a patient that is unconscious, unresponsive, pulseless, and apneic but has an implanted internal pacemaker.

Nitroglycerin works to relieve cardiac related chest pain by constricting coronary arteries to increase blood flow.

You can give Nitroglycerin to a patient if it is prescribed to a family member of the patient.

A patient that has blood pressures that differ on each arm, should be suspected of having unstable angina.

The pain from a dissecting aortic aneurysm comes when the walls weaken and the layers of the aorta suddenly contract.

A patient experiencing a hypertensive emergency will have a systolic blood pressure greater than 160 mmHg, and may also have a bounding pulse, dizziness, and a severe headache.

A patient with left sided heart failure will commonly have dependent edema.

Cardiogenic shock is a fluid problem.

Key words such as "shallow respirations," "labored breathing," and "reduced tidal volume," should que you to put a NRB on your patient.

Ventricular tachycardia is a normal rhythm that produces adequate cardiac output.

Unlike the pain associated with AMI, the pain of Angina will subside with rest.

You are going to rock the quiz tomorrow.