Get ready for the Paramedic Readiness Exam 5. Study with multiple-choice questions, detailed explanations, and effective strategies. Enhance your exam preparedness today!

Multiple Choice

A 36-year-old male stab wound to the abdomen presents with no radial pulses. After resuscitation, which change should you expect?

In hemorrhagic shock from abdominal trauma, bringing volume back into the circulation improves preload, stroke volume, and cardiac output, so perfusion improves and blood pressure rises toward a low-normal range. After resuscitation you’d expect systolic blood pressure to approximate about 90 mmHg as the body regains some circulatory support, rather than reaching a normal 120 or staying dangerously low. A sudden drop in heart rate to 50 would be atypical after resuscitation in this context, since the shock response tends to keep the heart rate elevated. Oxygen saturation reaching 100% isn’t the primary change you’re looking for in this scenario, as it depends more on breathing support and gas exchange than on restoring volume.

In hemorrhagic shock from abdominal trauma, bringing volume back into the circulation improves preload, stroke volume, and cardiac output, so perfusion improves and blood pressure rises toward a low-normal range. After resuscitation you’d expect systolic blood pressure to approximate about 90 mmHg as the body regains some circulatory support, rather than reaching a normal 120 or staying dangerously low. A sudden drop in heart rate to 50 would be atypical after resuscitation in this context, since the shock response tends to keep the heart rate elevated. Oxygen saturation reaching 100% isn’t the primary change you’re looking for in this scenario, as it depends more on breathing support and gas exchange than on restoring volume.