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Quiz: Cushing’s Triad and increased intracranial pressure

Test your knowledge on Cushing’s Reflex, which signals a risk for brain herniation

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Cushing’s Triad (or Cushing’s Reflex), presents the opposite of shock, and often signals impending danger of brain herniation. Cushing’s Triad is characterized by:

  • Hypertension
  • Bradycardia
  • Irregular respirations – primarily Cheyne-Stokes breathing

When your patient presents with vital signs that are seemingly the opposite of those presented with shock, you’re likely not dealing with shock; you’re dealing with an increase in intracranial pressure.

Intracranial pressure (ICP) is the pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid in the subarachnoid space, the space between the skull and the brain. Read “A triad of findings: 3 case presentations for Cushing’s Triad,” and then test your knowledge on Cushing’s Triad by taking the quiz below.

Share this quiz to challenge your colleagues to beat your score.

Next up: Quiz: Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems Test your knowledge of complex neural systems to understand the link between treatments and therapeutic goals

Tim is the founder and CEO of Emergency Medical Solutions, LLC, an EMS training and consulting company that he developed in 2010. He has nearly two decades of experience in the emergency services industry, having worked as a career firefighter, paramedic and critical care paramedic in a variety of urban, suburban, rural and in-hospital environments. His background includes nearly a decade of company officer and chief officer level experience, in addition to training content delivery and program development spanning his entire career. He is experienced in EMS operations, community paramedicine, quality assurance, data management, training, special operations and administration disciplines, and holds credentials as both a supervising and managing paramedic officer.

Tim also has active experience as a columnist and content developer with over 200 published works and over 100 hours of education content available online, and is a social media influencer on LinkedIn within the EMS industry. Connect with him on LinkedIn or at tnowak@emergencymedicalsolutionsllc.com.