You are reassessing a young female who sustained blunt trauma to the chest in a motor vehicle collision. What assessment finding best indicates that she is deteriorating and in the decompensatory phase of shock?
A) Heart rate 100 beats per minute
B) Blood pressure 88/50 mmHg
C) Blood continuing to ooze from an abdominal laceration
D) Restless and confused mental status
Question 2
Your patient is a 68-year-old female who is being treated for colon cancer. She is conscious and alert, in mild distress, and complaining of progressive weakness over the past three days. Palpation of her abdomen reveals tenderness to the lower right quadrant. Her skin is pale, cool, and dry, and you note the smell and appearance of melena in her stool. HR = 108, BP = 100/60, RR = 12, SaO2 = 97. Proper treatment of this patient might include:
A) IV of normal saline with a 250 mL fluid challenge, repeated if necessary.
B) IV of 5 percent dextrose solution at 30 mL per hour.
C) two large-bore IVs of lactated Ringer's solution, wide open.
D) two large-bore IVs of normal saline, 20 mL/kg fluid bolus.