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EMT Basic · Chapter 37 · Review · Chapter track

Patients With Special Challenges

Referencing the content of EMT-Basic training and emergency patient care

Learning objectives (13)

  1. Contrast hospice and palliative care with curative care — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1392); confirm wording in your course copy.

  2. Demonstrate different strategies to communicate effectively with a patient who has a hearing impairment — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1392); confirm wording in your course copy.

  3. Describe home care, the types of patients it serves, and the services it encompasses — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1392); confirm wording in your course copy.

  4. Describe the different types of visual impairments and the special patient care considerations required when providing emergency medical care for visually impaired patients, depend — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1392); confirm wording in your course copy.

  5. Describe the various types of hearing aids worn by patients; include strategies to troubleshoot a hearing aid that is not working — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1392); confirm wording in your course copy.

  6. Describe the various types of hearing impairments and the special patient care considerations required when providing emergency medical care for hard-of-hearing patients, including — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1392); confirm wording in your course copy.

  7. Discuss the issues of poverty and homelessness in the United States, their negative effects on a person’s health, and the role of EMTs as patient advocates — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1392); confirm wording in your course copy.

  8. Explain the responsibilities of EMTs when responding to calls for terminally ill patients who have do not resuscitate (DNR) orders — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1392); confirm wording in your course copy.

  9. Explain the special patient care considerations required when providing emergency medical care to bariatric patients; include the best way to move bariatric patients — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1392); confirm wording in your course copy.

  10. Explain the special patient care considerations required when providing emergency medical care to patients who have cerebral palsy, spina bifida, or paralysis — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1392); confirm wording in your course copy.

  11. Explain the special patient care considerations required when providing emergency medical care to patients who rely on a form of medical technological assistance, including the fol — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1392); confirm wording in your course copy.

  12. Explain the special patient care considerations required when providing emergency medical care to patients with intellectual disabilities, including patients with autism spectrum d — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1391); confirm wording in your course copy.

  13. Give examples of patients with special challenges EMTs may encounter during a medical emergency — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 1391); confirm wording in your course copy.

Chapter web resources

Optional reading from authoritative sites. Your textbook remains the primary source for this course.

When sources disagree (5 topics to verify before you teach from this chapter alone)

Printable study sheetPrintable flashcards (PDF, 10-up)Read first, then practise the track.

Showing Chapter track material. Switch tracks on the chapter page.

Vocabulary · 13

  • Tracheostomy

    A surgically created opening in the front of the neck into the trachea, often connected to a tube to facilitate breathing.

    SourceNIH MedlinePlus — Tracheostomy

  • Stoma

    A surgically created opening that connects an internal body cavity to the surface — examples include tracheostomy and colostomy stomas.

    SourceNIH MedlinePlus — Stoma — surgical opening

  • Gastrostomy tube (G-tube)

    A tube placed through the abdominal wall into the stomach for long-term feeding or medication delivery.

    SourceNIH MedlinePlus — Gastrostomy feeding tube

  • Indwelling urinary catheter (Foley)

    A flexible tube inserted into the bladder to continuously drain urine, often used long-term.

    SourceNIH MedlinePlus — Indwelling catheter care

  • Central venous access (port / PICC)

    Long-term intravenous access placed into a large central vein for medications, fluids, or repeated blood draws.

    SourceNIH MedlinePlus — Central venous catheters

  • Mechanical ventilator

    A device that delivers breaths to a patient who cannot breathe adequately on their own.

    SourceNIH NHLBI — Ventilator/ventilator support

  • CPAP

    Continuous positive airway pressure — noninvasive ventilatory support commonly used for sleep apnea and acute pulmonary edema.

    SourceAmerican Lung Association — CPAP therapy

  • Sensory impairment

    Reduced or absent vision, hearing, or other sensory function affecting communication and orientation during patient care.

    SourceCDC — Disability and health — sensory impairments

  • Hospice care

    Comprehensive end-of-life care focused on comfort, dignity, and quality of life rather than curative treatment.

    SourceNIH National Institute on Aging — What is hospice care?

  • Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)

    A medical order indicating that CPR should not be performed if the patient stops breathing or the heart stops.

    SourceNIH MedlinePlus — Do-not-resuscitate order

  • POLST / MOLST

    Physician/Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment — portable medical orders that travel with the patient and specify care preferences in serious illness.

    SourceNational POLST — What is POLST?

  • Bariatric patient

    A patient with severe obesity who often requires specialized equipment, additional providers, and modified handling techniques.

    SourceNIH NIDDK — Definition of obesity

  • Autism spectrum disorder

    A developmental condition affecting communication, social interaction, and sensory processing; requires patient-specific communication strategies.

    SourceCDC — Autism spectrum disorder

Sequences · 2

  • Tracheostomy in respiratory distress — Order EMT actions when a patient with a tracheostomy is in respiratory distress.
  • Encountering a DNR / POLST in the field — Order EMT steps when finding a DNR or POLST document.