Chapter 1

Question 1

What is the minimum level of certification required of ambulance personnel responsible for direct patient care?

Answer 1

Emergency Medical Technician

Question 2

What best describes the level of EMS training that emphasizes activation of the EMS system and provides immediate care for life-threatening problems?

Answer 2

Emergency Medical Responder

Question 3

What level of emergency medical training provides the most advanced pre-hospital care?

Answer 3

Paramedic

Question 4

What best defines the evaluation of the patient’s condition in order to provide emergency care?

Answer 4

Patient Assessment

Question 5

Upon arrival at the hospital, the EMT advises hospital personnel of the patient’s condition, observations from the scene, treatment rendered, and other pertinent data to assure continuity of care. This process is known as which of the following?

Answer 5

Transfer of Care

Question 6

Who is responsible for on-scene safety of EMS providers?

Answer 6

All crew members

Question 7

Which groups are credited with developing the earliest documented emergency medical service?

Answer 7

The French

Question 8

Which of the following is a physical trait necessary for performing the duties of an EMT?

Answer 8

Ability to speak clearly

Question 9

The National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) was founded to establish what?

Answer 9

National standards for emergency medical services personnel

Question 10

Why is it important for EMTs to participate in quality improvement programs?

Answer 10

To identify problems and develop a plan to prevent their recurrence

Question 11

In 1966 the National Highway Safety Act charged which agency with the development of emergency medical service standards?

Answer 11

Department of Transportation

Question 12

The application of oxygen for a patient who is short of breath without having to contact the physician in the emergency department because of existing protocols is an example of what?

Answer 12

Standing Orders

Question 13

You and another new EMT are studying your local protocols. The other EMT notices that you may give oral glucose without utilizing on-line medical control, but you must get an on-line order from a physician before assisting a patient in taking his nitroglycerin for chest pain. The EMT asks you why some drugs require on-line medical control while others do not. What is the best answer to give him?

Answer 13

The physician wants to be sure it is appropriate for the patient

Question 14

What is a public health initiative that is likely to involve the participation of EMTs?

Answer 14

Public vaccination programs

Question 15

A fellow EMT is talking with the Medical Director at a staff meeting. The EMT states that the neighboring ambulance service is carrying special clotting bandages for serious bleeding wounds. The EMT wants the Medical Director to approve the bandages for use in their ambulances. The Medical Director responds to the EMT by saying he will not approve the bandages until he can prove they are worth the additional cost. How can the EMT best prove the worth of the special bandages?

Answer 15

Perform a literature search to see what studies have been done on the special bandages and report the findings to the Medical Director.

Question 16

You and your new EMT partner arrive first on the scene of a single car rollover on the shoulder of a busy highway. You pull off in a safe location and just as you stop the ambulance, your partner throws the passenger door open, steps out of the truck, and begins jogging through the scattered debris toward the overturned car. You shout for him to stop and he looks back at you, but then continues to the vehicle and begins assessing the driver. Later, as you are restocking in the ambulance bay of the local trauma center, your partner tells you that he thinks you acted unprofessionally by shouting at him. What is the best way to respond?

Answer 16

Shouting was an attempt to protect the EMT from a potentially unsafe scene.

Question 17

Why is research published in a medical journal more authoritative than the information in a typical article published in an EMS magazine?

Answer 17

Research in medical journals is original and peer reviewed.

Question 18

What has the modern emergency medical services (EMS) system been developed to provide?

Answer 18

Hospital-quality care at the emergency scene and during transport

Question 19

Which of the following is the most common gateway for hospital services for patients who need emergency medical assistance?

Answer 19

Emergency department

Question 20

Which of the following best describes a communication system capable of identifying the number and location of the phone from which a caller is calling?

Answer 20

Enhanced 911

Question 21

What is the most important part of a patient assessment?

Answer 21

Chief complaint

Question 22

When will you not take vital signs?

Answer 22

If and only if, you are busy treating an immediate life threat

Question 23

When do you take vital signs?

Answer 23

During secondary assessment

Question 24

What are vital signs and what do they include?

Answer 24

outward signs of what is going on inside the body

• respiration
• pulse
• skin: color, temperature, and condition (plus capillary refill in infants and children)
• pupils
• blood pressure

Question 25

What else can give you important information but is not a vital sign?

Answer 25

`Mental status