Your task for this case is to assess and manage a patient in cardiac arrest who has pulseless electrical activity (PEA). Although the ECG shows organized cardiac electrical activity, the patient is unresponsive with no palpable pulse. Because finding and identifying an underlying cause is critical to patient outcome, the team searches for possible causes for PEA as they administer CPR. Your patient is a 32-year-old woman who was found unresponsive on the floor of her apartment by her boyfriend. He brought her to the ED. You do not see an obvious chest rise or fall.
about 3–5 minutes
Question 1 of 5
What do you do first?
Question 2 of 5
The patient continues in cardiac arrest. High quality CPR is in progress including compressions and ventilations. What medication can be administered to this patient during resuscitation?
Question 3 of 5
You learn from her boyfriend that the patient has a past medical history of medication abuse and was admitted to the hospital six months ago. You conclude that the patient most likely has which of the following?
Question 4 of 5
You discover that the patient was in an accident while bicycling yesterday. She has been complaining of abdominal pain but did not seek treatment. You are suspicious that the cause of her cardiac arrest may be?
Question 5 of 5
Which of the following would be an important component of her care?
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