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An adult patient is brought to the emergency department following a vehicle "roll-over" with prolonged extrication. What aspect of the patient's history and situation should be of particular concern to the healthcare team?

a) The make and model of the vehicle involved in the roll-over.

b) The patient's age and gender.

c) The duration of the extrication process.

d) The weather conditions at the time of the incident.

User Dacobah
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Final answer:

The healthcare team should be particularly concerned about the duration of the extrication process after a vehicle roll-over incident, as it can indicate more severe injuries. In an emergency with severe bleeding, O-negative blood is transfused as it's the universal donor type. For blood typing, agglutination with both anti-A and anti-B antibodies suggests an AB blood type.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the scenario where an adult patient is brought to the emergency department after a vehicle "roll-over" with prolonged extrication, the healthcare team should be particularly concerned about c) The duration of the extrication process. This is because prolonged extrication can indicate a higher likelihood of severe injuries, including crush syndrome, compartment syndrome, and hypothermia if the patient was trapped for an extended period. Immediate concerns would involve assessing for traumatic injuries, potential internal bleeding, and the risk of shock.

In a critical situation involving severe bleeding with no time to determine the patient’s blood type, the patient would be transfused with O-negative blood. This blood type is considered the universal donor as it lacks antigens that would cause an immune response in most patients, minimizing the risk of a transfusion reaction during this life-saving procedure.

Concerning blood typing in a non-emergency setting, if both wells with anti-A and anti-B antibodies agglutinate, this is a normal response and indicates that the patient has AB blood type, which has both A and B antigens on the surface of the red blood cells.

User Mikhail Lisakov
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