Unit 3.2 Emergency Response: Patient assessment, stabilization, triage, bleeding control, drug delivery/metabolism, communication.
What to do if absent- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning — make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure — the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities — you open it through Schoology.
Week overview - Emergency Response: assessment, triage, and stabilization
Assess a simulated patient, apply triage, control hemorrhage, and explain how a drug dose moves through metabolism, following a response protocol.
- 1Define triage, stabilization, and hemorrhage, then give one example of each in an emergency.
- 2Run the patient assessment for your simulated case and record the key findings.
- 3Assign a triage level and justify it using the protocol's priority rules.
- 4Describe the steps you would take to control bleeding and stabilize the patient.
- 5Trace how a given drug dose is delivered and then changed by metabolism in the body.
- 6Write a short handoff that communicates the patient's status to the next responder.
- • You will be able to assess a patient and assign a triage level using a protocol.
- • You will be able to describe stabilization and bleeding-control steps in order.
- • You will be able to explain how dose and metabolism affect a drug's effect.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
One sentence identifying the strongest opposing triage argument encountered in the debate.
Annotated notes with the ABCDE assessment sequence, stabilization steps, drug delivery route comparison table, and a brief metabolism pathway note.
Team decision log with all patient triage tags, stabilization steps applied, timing notes, and one simulation limitation per team member.
CER evaluating the simulation triage order, citing decision-log evidence, connecting decisions to outcomes, recommending one protocol improvement, and stating simulation limitations.
Updated project tracker with emergency-unit status, confidence rating on triage and pharmacology, and one reflective note, linked to submitted evidence package.
Quick intro to the week
- Hook: in an emergency, seconds and a clear protocol decide who gets help first and who is stabilized.
- Today's goal: move calmly through assessment, triage, and stabilization the way a response team does.
- Monday bioethics debate ties in: is it fair that triage sends the most-injured patient to the back of the line?
- Reminder: your graded triage decision and handoff communication are submitted in the PLTW course shell.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance your PLTW PBS emergency-response benchmark by completing the triage and stabilization simulation report in the online course shell.
- • Triage sorts patients by urgency so limited resources reach the right people first.
- • Stabilization keeps a patient alive and steady until definitive care is available.
- • Dose and metabolism together determine how strongly and how long a drug acts.
- • Assign a triage level using a written protocol.
- • Communicate a clear patient handoff to the next responder.
📋 PLTW evidence due: the completed triage decision and stabilization simulation report in the course shell.
All PLTW activities are completed inside the PLTW course environment — this page only gives direction.
This week's PLTW tracker
Your week at a glance. Check off each deliverable as you finish it, then submit so Mr. Mendoza can see how the class is pacing.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
| Day | Date | Focus | Key deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Mon, Nov 23 | Triage ethics debate | One sentence identifying the strongest opposing triage argument encountered in the debate. |
| Tuesday | Tue, Nov 24 | Assessment and drug delivery notes | Annotated notes with the ABCDE assessment sequence, stabilization steps, drug delivery route comparison table, and a brief metabolism pathway note. |
| Wednesday | Mon, Nov 30 | Emergency-response simulation | Team decision log with all patient triage tags, stabilization steps applied, timing notes, and one simulation limitation per team member. |
| Thursday | Tue, Dec 1 | Response analysis CER | CER evaluating the simulation triage order, citing decision-log evidence, connecting decisions to outcomes, recommending one protocol improvement, and stating simulation limitations. |
| Friday | Wed, Dec 2 | Submit tracker and evidence | Updated project tracker with emergency-unit status, confidence rating on triage and pharmacology, and one reflective note, linked to submitted evidence package. |
- M: Philosophy for Kids / John Carroll bioethical debate
- T: teacher background notes + PLTW launch task
- W: lab / data or model work
- Th: analysis / CER or design revision
- F: submit tracker + weekly evidence
Due by week's end: Triage/stabilization protocol.
What to do when absent
Most days, this class is your PLTW coursework — and PLTW is online and individual. So being out usually just means doing exactly what we did in class, from home.
Open Schoology (CMSD) and keep goingHow to get there: open the CMSD website, click Clever, sign in with your Microsoft (district) account, then open Schoology from Clever.
You can't do those from home — do this instead: Teacher-posted data/model packet, same objective. Supplemental: Khan: pharmacology basics if teacher-selected; FEMA/CDC emergency preparedness references.
Class still runs. A substitute will post today's plan — complete the online activity above; it's built to be self-guided. Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Ready.gov Emergency PreparednessVocabulary
Virtual resources
Resources & readings
Hand-picked materials for this lesson. Class file items open the document directly; the rest are vetted readings and interactives from other biomedical programs.
Standards this week
WebXam practice
Drop your Week 13 here. Use a clear file name (your initials + project). Routine work still goes to Schoology (via the CMSD portal).
Upload a project