A 48-year-old male patient is short of breath and confused. His airway is open, and his breathing is fast. A radial pulse is easily palpated. His skin is warm to cool and dry. Your partner reports the following vital signs: pulse, 124; respirations, 24 breaths/min; blood pressure, 158/86 mmHg; and SpO2, 89% on room air. The patient’s lung sounds indicate slight wheezing. Based on this information, which of these conditions poses the most immediate threat to this patient’s well-being?

You are sitting next to a 24-year-old female patient with diabetes who has altered mental status and a blood sugar reading of 31 mg/dL. Family members state that she took her normal amount of insulin this morning and ate her breakfast as usual. Which additional statement would the EMT recognize as contributing to her current condition?

You are transporting a patient with diabetes who has low blood sugar. En route, you receive orders to administer oral glucose. Which piece of emergency equipment is most important to have readily available during this procedure?

A patient with chest pain and shortness of breath informs you that the last time he had a heart attack, he went into heart failure. When performing your secondary assessment, which sign or symptom is most indicative that the patient is in heart failure again?

You are assisting a paramedic who is administering glucagon to a patient. Based on your understanding of how glucagon works in the human body, what is the therapeutic goal of this treatment?

When providing information about diabetes to a group of Emergency Medical Responders, you would tell them that it is a disease:

A 71-year-old female patient complains of the sudden onset of shortness of breath and rapid breathing. She also states that she is experiencing some chest pain that seems to worsen when she takes a deep breath. The primary assessment shows her to be alert and oriented with a patent airway and rapid breathing that is adequate. Her pulse rate is 92 and her blood pressure is 116/68 mmHg. When obtaining a history, which of these statements made by the patient should raise your suspicion that the patient may be experiencing a pulmonary embolism?

Medical direction has ordered you to administer one dose of oral glucose to a patient with diabetes who is exhibiting confusion. Which of these best describes what you should do?

As you enter the living room of an adult patient who called 911 for shortness of breath, you observe the patient sitting upright in a chair with a panicked look on her face, struggling to breathe, with obvious suprasternal retractions. Her breathing rate appears to be fast and her tidal volume poor. You can hear rhonchi from her lungs without the aid of a stethoscope. Once at her side, your initial care should be to:

A 17-year-old patient is unresponsive. A medical identification bracelet states that he has diabetes. Which action should you perform first?