Unit 3.2 Emergency Response: Patient assessment, stabilization, triage, bleeding control, drug delivery/metabolism, communication.
Your PLTW coursework: Principles of Biomedical Science ▸ Unit 3: Outbreaks and Emergencies ▸ Lesson 3.2 Emergency Response ▸ "Activity 3.2.1 Survey and Assess", "Activity 3.2.2 Drug Delivery", "Activity 3.2.3 Control Bleeding", "Activity 3.2.4 Crisis Communication", "Activity 3.2.5 Medical Surge", "Project 3.2.6 Mobile Medical Facility"
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. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Week overview - Emergency Response: assessment, triage, and stabilization
Assess a simulated patient, apply , control , and explain how a drug dose moves through , following a response protocol.
- 1Define , , and , then give one example of each in an emergency.
- 2Run the patient assessment for your simulated case and record the key findings.
- 3Assign a 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 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 level using a protocol.
- • You will be able to describe and bleeding-control steps in order.
- • You will be able to explain how dose and 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 argument encountered in the debate.
Annotated notes with the ABCDE assessment sequence, steps, drug delivery route comparison table, and a brief pathway note.
Team decision log with all patient tags, steps applied, timing notes, and one simulation limitation per team member.
CER evaluating the simulation 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 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, , and the way a response team does.
- Monday bioethics debate ties in: is it fair that sends the most-injured patient to the back of the line?
- Reminder: your graded decision and handoff communication are submitted on the class site.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance your PLTW PBS emergency-response benchmark by completing the and simulation report in the online course shell.
- • sorts patients by urgency so limited resources reach the right people first.
- • keeps a patient alive and steady until definitive care is available.
- • Dose and together determine how strongly and how long a drug acts.
- • Assign a level using a written protocol.
- • Communicate a clear patient handoff to the next responder.
📋 PLTW evidence due: the completed decision and 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Fri, Nov 20 | 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. |
| Monday | 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 | - | 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 | - | 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.
4 panels from the illustrated semester.
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
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 Clever, then myPLTWHow to get there: open Clever and sign in with your Microsoft (district) account. Both myPLTW and Schoology are in Clever. Do the activity in myPLTW. Turn the work in on this site or hand it to Mr. Mendoza, because that is the step that counts as submitted. Schoology only shows your report-card grade later.
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: know what to do in an emergencyVocabulary
Resources & readings
Hand-picked readings and interactives for this lesson, from authoritative open organizations and PLTW's own public course outline.