The Age Filter Card and the Ten-Minute Pediatric Drill
The age filter card taped at a slight tilt, five columns each headed by the cover's nested-arc mark at quarter scale, so the book closes on the shape it opened with.
THE AGE FILTER CARD
| INFANT | TODDLER | PRESCHOOL | SCHOOL-AGE | ADOLESCENT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vitals direction | Fastest heart and respiratory rate, lowest blood pressure | Both rates falling, blood pressure rising | Rates continue to fall | Approaching adult values | Adult values reached |
| Erikson task | Trust vs mistrust | Autonomy vs shame and doubt | Initiative vs guilt | Industry vs inferiority | Identity vs role confusion |
| Dominant fear | Separation, strangers | Separation | Bodily harm and mutilation | Loss of control | Body image, peer rejection |
| Play | Solitary | Parallel | Associative and dramatic | Cooperative, rules | Peer group, competitive |
| Top tested condition | Bronchiolitis, pyloric stenosis, intussusception, hip dysplasia | Croup, febrile seizure, hypercyanotic spell | Epiglottitis, communicable rashes | Asthma, cystic fibrosis maintenance | Scoliosis, adherence and risk behavior |
| The one safety message | Supine sleep, empty crib, rear-facing seat | Locked cabinets, touch supervision near water | Pedestrian and stranger rules | Helmets and seat belts | Driving, substances, firearms, mood |
THE TEN-MINUTE DRILL — one minute each, out loud, without looking back.
☐ 1. Name three red flags for developmental delay and the age each is measured at. ☐ 2. State the two things you never do in suspected epiglottitis, then name two more. ☐ 3. Sort these five defects by shunt direction: ventricular septal defect, transposition of the great arteries, patent ductus arteriosus, tricuspid atresia, atrial septal defect. ☐ 4. List four conditions that are not contraindications to vaccination. ☐ 5. State the four-step order of the hypercyanotic spell response. ☐ 6. Name the injury pattern that requires a report in an infant who cannot yet cruise. ☐ 7. Give the pain assessment tool for a 6-month-old, a 4-year-old, and a 9-year-old. ☐ 8. State what a quieting wheeze plus a drowsy child means, and what you do. ☐ 9. Give the four nursing actions for an open myelomeningocele before surgery. ☐ 10. State the direction heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure each move as a child grows, and why a normal blood pressure does not reassure.
CROSS-LINKS: → BOOK 01 · P55 · → BOOK 04 · P7 · → BOOK 06 · P6 · → BOOK 07 · P4 · → BOOK 12 · P8 · → BOOK 14 · P6
Currency footer watch This card carries age-anchored content and immunization content. Both are dated and both are revised. Re-verify against current AAP guidance and the current CDC schedule before you rely on either, and re-verify the whole card at every reprint.
Margin noteone column. That's the whole trick.
Takeawayif you can rebuild one age column from memory, the rest of pediatrics becomes retrieval rather than recall. → BOOK 16 · P3