EMT Basic · Chapter 36 · Review · Chapter track
Geriatric Emergencies
Referencing the content of EMT-Basic training and emergency patient care
Learning objectives (15)
Define an advance directive and considerations with older patients — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Define polypharmacy and the toxicity issues that can result — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Describe the common complaints and the leading causes of death in older people — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Discuss the effect of aging on behavioral emergencies — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Discuss the effects of aging on environmental emergencies — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Discuss the physiologic changes associated with the aging process and the age-related assessment and treatment modifications that result — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Discuss the prevalence of elder abuse and neglect; include why the extent of elder abuse is not well known — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Explain special considerations when performing the patient assessment process on a geriatric patient with a medical condition — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Explain special considerations when performing the patient assessment process on a geriatric patient with a traumatic injury — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Explain special considerations when responding to calls at nursing and skilled care facilities — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Explain the GEMS diamond and its role in the assessment and care of the geriatric patient — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Explain the assessment and care of a geriatric patient who has potentially been abused or neglected — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Know generational considerations when communicating with a geriatric patient — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Recognize acts of commission or omission by a caregiver that result in harm, potential harm, or threat of harm to a geriatric patient — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Recognize some of the special aspects of the lives of older people — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1350); confirm wording in your course copy.
Chapter web resources
Optional reading from authoritative sites. Your textbook remains the primary source for this course.
- MedlinePlus older adult health · NIH
Geriatric assessment considerations
When sources disagree (5 topics to verify before you teach from this chapter alone)
Showing Chapter track material. Switch tracks on the chapter page.
Vocabulary · 11
GEMS diamond
A geriatric assessment framework with four points — Geriatric patient, Environmental assessment, Medical assessment, Social assessment.
SourceAAOS — Emergency Care and Transportation of the Sick and Injured, 12e — Geriatric assessment — GEMS
Polypharmacy
The use of multiple medications by a single patient — typically five or more — increasing the risk of drug interactions and adverse effects.
SourceAmerican Geriatrics Society — Beers Criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use
Delirium
An acute, fluctuating disturbance of attention and awareness, usually caused by an underlying medical condition, medication effect, or substance withdrawal.
SourceNIH National Institute on Aging — Delirium
Dementia
A chronic, progressive decline in cognitive function — memory, thinking, language, and judgment — severe enough to interfere with daily life.
SourceNIH National Institute on Aging — What is dementia?
Alzheimer's disease
The most common cause of dementia, marked by gradual loss of memory and other cognitive abilities and characteristic brain changes.
SourceNIH National Institute on Aging — Alzheimer's disease fact sheet
Osteoporosis
A disease that thins and weakens bones, making them fragile and more likely to fracture from minor falls or everyday stresses.
SourceNIH National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases — Osteoporosis overview
Kyphosis
An exaggerated outward curvature of the upper spine that produces a rounded or hunched back, commonly seen with osteoporosis in older adults.
SourceAAOS OrthoInfo — Kyphosis
Pressure injury (decubitus ulcer)
Localized damage to skin and underlying tissue over a bony prominence resulting from sustained pressure, often combined with shear or friction.
SourceAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) — Preventing pressure ulcers in hospitals
Fall risk
An older adult's increased likelihood of falling — a leading cause of injury — assessed by gait, balance, medications, vision, and home hazards.
SourceCDC STEADI initiative — STEADI — older adult fall prevention
Elder abuse
Intentional or negligent physical, emotional, sexual, or financial harm to an older adult by a caregiver or other person in a position of trust.
SourceNational Center on Elder Abuse — What is elder abuse?
disorders/delirium
and-dementia/delirium. Accessed
SourcePrinted pages 1349–1390. Emergency Care and Transportation of the Sick and Injured, 12th ed., Jones & Bartlett Learning / American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS)
Sequences · 2
- GEMS diamond — Order the four points of the GEMS assessment framework for older adults.
- Ground-level fall on a blood thinner — Order EMT priorities for an older adult who fell and takes anticoagulants.