Prehospital Emergency Care Practice Test: Handing Abdominal and Genitourinary Trauma — Flashcards

When managing abdominal trauma, EMTs should keep exposed organs sterile and moist. They should also:
Remove all clothing
Roll the patient to find all injuries, including exit wounds
Control bleeding
Cover wounds with sterile gauze or abdominal pads
Gently drape the pads over the wound
Not push abdominal contents back into the body cavity 

Early management of abdominal trauma includes:
Hemostatic resuscitation
Permissive hypotension
Damage control surgery
Naso/orogastric tube (N/OGT)
Urinalysis
Imaging 

The most reliable signs and symptoms of blunt abdominal trauma in alert patients are: Pain, Tenderness, Gastrointestinal hemorrhage, Hypovolemia, and Evidence of peritoneal irritation. 
The most important initial concern in the evaluation of a patient with blunt abdominal trauma is assessment of hemodynamic stability.