Lec 1 ED Flashcards
What is the definition of emergency medicine?
Emergency medicine is the medical specialty dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of unforeseen illness or injury/trauma.
What is included in the practice of emergency medicine?
The practice includes initial evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, coordination of care, and disposition of any patient requiring expeditious medical, surgical, or trauma care.
Where can emergency medicine be practiced?
Emergency medicine may be practiced in various settings such as hospital-based and freestanding emergency departments, urgent care clinics, observation medicine units, ambulance services, and disaster sites.
What is the role of pharmacists in the emergency department (ED)?
Pharmacists provide care through direct bedside clinical activities and indirect patient care initiatives to ensure safe and effective medication therapy management.
What are vital signs?
Vital signs include heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and temperature.
What are the four main components of blood?
- Plasma
- Red blood cells
- White blood cells
- Platelets
What is plasma?
Plasma is the liquid component of blood that contains albumin, immunoglobulin, coagulation factors, and other proteins.
What is serum?
Serum is the fluid found in plasma, minus the clotting factors.
What does the term ‘normal range’ refer to in laboratory tests?
Normal range is defined by a healthy population and varies widely within age groups, weight groups, sex, and feeding status.
What is the Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP)?
BMP analyzes sodium, potassium, chloride, CO2, BUN, and glucose to provide insights into serum electrolytes, acid-base status, renal function, and metabolic state.
What does therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) aim to achieve?
TDM aims to optimize dosing to target a therapeutic plasma drug concentration while minimizing toxicity.
What is the difference between peak level and trough level in drug levels?
- Peak level: highest concentration detected between doses
- Trough level: lowest level detected prior to next dose
What are some roles of pharmacists in the emergency department?
- Provide pharmacotherapeutic recommendations
- Onsite drug information expert
- Assist during resuscitation
- Medication procurement and preparation
- Medication history and reconciliation
- Ensure medication safety
- Performance and quality improvement
- Emergency preparedness and disaster management
- Education and research
What is the purpose of medication reconciliation?
The purpose is to create the most accurate list of medications, including drug name, dosage, frequency, and route, against the physician’s admission, transfer, and/or discharge.
True or False: Symptoms are measurable and reproducible manifestations of disease.
False
What are examples of clinical signs?
- Skin rash
- Ascites
- Bleeding
- Bruising
- Swelling
- Temperature
- Blood pressure
- Cough
What factors can influence drug levels?
- Compliance
- Interaction
- Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic factors
- Clinical condition
- Timing of sample collection
What is the importance of magnesium and phosphate in blood chemistry?
They are important electrolytes that can cause problems in managing other electrolytes if not assessed appropriately.
What is the critical care panel in blood gas analysis?
- ABG/VBG (arterial or venous blood gas)
- pCO2
- pO2
- pH
- HCO3
- Ionized Calcium
- Magnesium
- BMP
What does the Complete Metabolic Panel (CMP) include?
- Albumin
- Total protein
- Alkaline phosphatase
- Triglycerides
- Uric acid
- Iron
- Lactate dehydrogenase
- Aspartate aminotransferase
- Alanine aminotransferase
Fill in the blank: The _____ is the medical specialty dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of unforeseen illness or injury.
[emergency medicine]
What are some common uses for therapeutic drug monitoring?
- Infectious diseases: aminoglycosides, vancomycin
- Pulmonology: aminophylline, theophylline
- Cardiology: lidocaine, digoxin
- Neurology: carbamazepine, phenytoin
What should EMPs ensure regarding medication information?
EMPs should ensure access to appropriate primary, secondary, and tertiary references to respond to medication information requests.
What is the role of EMPs during resuscitation in the ED?
EMPs assist with differential diagnosis, ensure appropriate medication selection and dose, answer medication information questions, and prepare medications for administration.
