Deck 15: Disaster Situations

Question 1

Your hospital has had an influx of clients who are in respiratory distress and require ventilator assistance. What might this indicate?

A) A natural disaster
B) A neurologic disaster
C) A medical disaster
D) A bioterrorism attack

Answer 1

A bioterrorism attack

Question 2

A disaster can overwhelm the capabilities of healthcare facilities in an area. What is the magnitude of the disaster related to?

A) The causal event
B) Whether or not it is caused by man
C) Whether or not it is a natural disaster
D) The area covered by the event

Answer 2

The causal event

Question 3

Homeland Security has alerted the disaster response teams in your region of a potential terrorist attack in the form of a nuclear blast. You are a part of the disaster response system and you know that with a nuclear blast you would need to be prepared for what classification of disaster?

A) Radiologic
B) Chemical
C) Biologic
D) Manmade

Answer 3

Radiologic

Question 4

You are an Emergency Department nurse working triage during a disaster. Why should you tag a victim after assessment in a disaster situation?

A) To know the victim's name.
B) The tag states the triage category of the victim.
C) Someone else does not duplicate the assessment.
D) Call for immediate hospitalization.

Question 5

You are taking a class on chemical disasters with your local emergency response team. What toxins would you be learning about? Select all that apply.

A) Blistering agents
B) Psychologic agents
C) Contact emulsifiers
D) Nerve agents
E) Cyanide

Question 6

The nurse is caring for a client who has large dome-shaped lesions filled with clear or yellow fluid. The nurse knows that the toxic agent most likely to be the cause is what?

A) Vesicant
B) Anthrax
C) Smallpox
D) Chickenpox

Question 7

The nursing instructor is teaching her class about disasters. Which type of radiologic disaster would the instructor tell her students is less likely to cause acute radiation syndrome (ARS)?

A) Nuclear power plant accident
B) Explosion of a dirty bomb
C) Nuclear blast
D) Sarin attack

Question 8

A public health nurse is presenting an educational event to the local disaster response team on radiation injury. The nurse describes a client whose burns and trauma are evident. What type of radiation injury is this?

A) External
B) Direct
C) Internal
D) Indirect

Question 9

The disaster team in your region is responding to a local chemical plant leak. They are required to wash exposed areas of the victim's skin with a solution containing bleach and then flushed with plain water. What have these victims been exposed to?

A) A vesicant
B) A nerve agent
C) Cyanide
D) Smallpox

Question 10

The Emergency Department you work in has been alerted to the possible influx of clients from the bombing of a public building. You know that this disaster would be considered an act of terrorism. How would this disaster be classified?

A) Natural
B) Manmade
C) Terrorist
D) Human

Question 11

You are an Emergency Department nurse who has to care for three victims of anthrax. The first victim inhaled the toxin, the second victim ingested it, and the third victim suffered a skin infection. Which client should be cared for first?

A) The one who ingested the toxin
B) The one who inhaled the toxin
C) The one with the skin infection
D) Any convenient order

Question 12

An ICU nurse is caring for a radiation victim who is being treated with Prussian blue. You know that Prussian blue works by doing what?

A) Prevents radioactive iodine from reaching the thyroid gland.
B) Attaches to radioactive iodine and promotes its excretion.
C) Traps cesium in the intestine to prevent its absorption.
D) Prevents cesium from being trapped in the small bowel.

Question 13

You are caring for a client who only minutes after exposure to a vesicant developed blisters on the skin. Should you use dimercaprol?

A) Yes, it is effective against all kind of vesicants.
B) No, it is not effective against sulfur mustard.
C) Yes, it is the only antidote for lewisite.
D) No, it only acts against mustard gas and not lewisite.

Question 14

Three victims of radiation exposure are brought into the Emergency Department. As the nurse caring for these clients, you would expect what substance to be ordered to reduce radiologic organ damage?

A) Cyan red
B) Potassium iodide
C) Russian blue
D) Medical iodine

Question 15

The clinic nurse is triaging a client who had visited a smallpox affected community 14 days ago. The client has developed a fever but no rash. Should the nurse consider the client at risk for smallpox?

A) No, smallpox rash develops within 7 days.
B) No, in smallpox a rash develops before fever.
C) Yes, fever and rash may follow 14 asymptomatic days.
D) No, fever and rash develop immediately on exposure.

Question 16

You are caring for radiation victims. What is the most important factor that you should consider to assess a client's chance of survival in acute radiation syndrome (ARS)?

A) Dosage of gamma radiation
B) Concentration of nerve gas
C) Mode of infection
D) Direct physical contact

Question 17

You are part of a disaster response team. Your team has been activated, and you have just reported to your mobilization point. You are assigned to triage clients as they come in. What is the first act you should perform while assessing victims of a disaster?

A) Assess airway, breathing, and circulation
B) Divide into triage categories
C) Wear protective clothes
D) Cutoff clients' clothing

Question 18

You are caring for clients who have been exposed to a toxic nerve agent. You will need to use diazepam with these clients. Why is diazepam given when managing the effects of toxic nerve agent toxicity?

A) To counter excess acetylcholine
B) To control possible seizures
C) To reactivate acetylcholinesterase
D) To control hypersecretion

Question 19

The nursing instructor is talking with their students about botulism. The instructor tells the students that when caring for a client with botulism what condition is most likely to cause death?

A) Diplopia
B) Dysphagia
C) Paralysis of respiratory muscles
D) Dysarthria

Question 20

The nurse caring for victims of a volcano eruption knows that this disaster is categorized as a natural disaster. What is the other category of disaster?

A) Manmade
B) Artificial
C) Earthly
D) Human

Question 21

You are the nurse caring for three clients who have been diagnosed with anthrax. They were exposed after boarding a flight where a white powdery substance was found in one of the restrooms. You know that these clients would be classed as being victims of which of the following?

A) A biologic disaster
B) A natural disaster
C) A radiologic disaster
D) A chemical disaster

Question 22

One of the nuclear power plants experiences a crack in the protection of the core when the cooling system malfunctions. The thought is that the cooling system was tampered with. Healthcare facilities in the area are inundated with victims residing in the area around the power plant. What category of disaster would this be?

A) A biologic disaster
B) A chemical disaster
C) A nuclear blast
D) A radiologic disaster

Question 23

The nurse is caring for a client who has been exposed to radiation. The client is being treated with diethylenetriamine pentaacetate(DTPA) to reduce the organ damage from radiation. The nurse knows that DTPA is administered how?

A) Orally
B) Injection
C) Intravenous
D) Rectally

Question 24

The nurse is caring for a victim of a chemical disaster. Medications given in the treatment of this client include amyl nitrite, sodium nitrite, and sodium thiosulfate. What chemical agent does the nurse know this client has been exposed to?

A) Sarin
B) Mustard gas
C) Cyanide
D) Anthrax