JBL EMT Practice Exam

You are dispatched to a residence for a 67-year-old female who was awakened by shortness of breath and sharp chest pain. Her husband tells you that she was recently discharged from the hospital after having hip surgery. Your assessment reveals dried blood around her mouth, facial cyanosis, and an oxygen saturation of 88%. You should suspect:

1. acute pulmonary edema

2. acute pulmonary embolism

3. right-sided heart failure

4. spontaneous pneumothorax

The correct answer is: acute pulmonary embolism

Based on the presented patient presentation with shortness of breath, sharp chest pain, dried blood around the mouth, facial cyanosis, and low oxygen saturation level, the most likely condition to suspect is an acute pulmonary embolism (PE). A pulmonary embolism occurs when a blood clot travels to the lungs and becomes lodged in a pulmonary artery. This can lead to a sudden decrease in oxygenation, resulting in symptoms such as shortness of breath, chest pain, and low oxygen saturation levels. The presence of dried blood around the patient's mouth and facial cyanosis may indicate hypoxemia, which is common in pulmonary embolism due to the impaired oxygen exchange caused by the blood clot in the lung. While acute pulmonary edema, right-sided heart failure, and spontaneous pneumothorax can also present with symptoms such as shortness of breath and chest pain, the specific combination of findings in this scenario, including the recent hip surgery that could have predisposed the patient to blood clots, makes acute pulmonary embolism the most likely diagnosis to consider.