EMT Practice Exam EMS Operations Flashcards
- What agency has established national EMS system standards as well as an assessment program to achieve these recommended standards?
a. NHTSA
b. NREMT
c. NAEMT
d. NAEMSE
A. Rationale: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has established EMS system standards. In addition, the NHTSA Technical Assistance Program has been devised to help EMS systems achieve these. The National Registry of EMTs (NREMT) designs a validated EMS certification exam. The National Association of EMTs (NAEMT) is a professional organization that provides current information and CE opportunities to EMS providers. The National Association of EMS Educators (NAEMSE) represents EMS educators working together to increase the quality of EMS education nationally.
Which of the following national certification levels is designed for the first person likely to be on the scene of an accident or illness?
a. Advanced Emergency Medical Technician
b. Emergency Medical Responder
c. Emergency Medical Technician
d. Paramedic
B. Rationale: The Emergency Medical Responder (EMR), formerly known as the First Responder, is the training level geared for the people who are likely to arrive first at the scene of an emergency. These people are commonly fire personnel, law enforcement, and industrial health personnel. The EMT is the entry-level position with transport capability. The Advanced EMT provides certain advanced skills, and the Paramedic is the highest certification level with the most involved training and expectations.
You are going to help in the self-administration of an MDI in a patient with COPD who has a prescribed inhaler. If the EMT provides this care without first contacting medical direction, what kind of protocols is he employing?
a. On-line medical direction
b. Off-line medical direction
c. Patient-directed medical care
d. Evidence-based medical direction
B. Rationale: There are two types of medical direction the EMT uses: on-line and off-line. On-line occurs when the EMT is required to call the hospital prior to some intervention, whereas off-line occurs when the EMT can do so based on standing orders (typically written), saying that the EMT can exercise his own judgement on the appropriateness of the treatment. Patient-directed and evidence-based treatment are both versions of overall treatment perspectives, but neither are what the EMT must follow while working in EMS.
Organisms that can cause diseases in humans when in contact with the infected patient’s blood, such as HIV, are known by what name to the EMT?
a. Cross contamination
b. Airborne pathogens
c. Bloodborne pathogens
d. Parasite-host relationship
C. Rationale: A bloodborne pathogen is one that can cause disease in another human being who comes into contact with blood from the infected person. Airborne pathogens are just that: they can be communicated between people by traveling through the air. Cross contamination actually implies the process by which a person contracts a disease another has, and the parasite-host relationship deals with situations in which one organism is living off another organism (think of a flea and a dog).
You are exiting the ambulance for a patient who has called EMS for recurrent vomiting. At a bare minimum, what type of protective equipment should you employ prior to patient contact?
a. Gown
b. Gloves
c. HEPA mask
d. Eye protection
B. Rationale: At a bare minimum, at any call where potentially infectious material can be expected, the EMT should don at least a pair of protective examination gloves. The use of additional PPE (goggles, gowns, face mask, etc.) depends on the exposure to potential splattering of blood or body fluids and the likelihood of inhaling a pathogen the patient releases into the air by way of exhaling, coughing, or spitting.
Which of the following lifting techniques is best for maintaining good body mechanics to avoid potential injury?
a. Keep the weight as close to your body as possible when lifting
b. Use a backboard for moving patients down stairs whenever possible
c. When given the choice, pull a wheeled cot rather than push it
d. Carry, rather than use a wheeled device, when moving patients a distance
A. Rationale: Carrying weight close to the body allows for better lifting mechanics and reduces injuries and accidents. The EMT should always use a stair chair if possible when moving patients down steps. In addition, pushing a wheeled cot is safer for the body than pulling with one arm, which can cause uneven loading on the spine. Finally, always use a wheeled device for moving a patient, especially over distances, rather than carrying her manually.
What type of patient move would the EMT employ if the patient was in a building in danger of collapse that would certainly kill the patient?
a. Emergency
b. Non-urgent
c. Delayed
d. Urgent
A. Rationale: An “emergency” move is one that is employed to get the patient to a safe location for assessment and management. Prior to the move, there is no real assessment done on the patient, nor is there any real treatment. If the patient and the EMT are both in peril, then an emergency move is appropriate. An urgent move is used when initial management steps are completed, but the patient still needs to be moved rapidly for ongoing assessment and care. Finally, a non-urgent move is one undertaken with a slower pace and with more care. A non-urgent move is the type performed most commonly in EMS.
An adult patient is suing an EMS provider for not properly immobilizing his leg, leading to a permanent neurologic injury. In a court of law, what legal tenet must the patient’s attorney prove to show that the EMTs were at fault?
a. Guilt
b. Assault
c. Battery
d. Negligence
D. Rationale: The plaintiff must show that negligence on the part of the defendant, the EMT, led to the plaintiff’s injury. This generally indicates that the EMT, led to the plaintiff’s injury. This generally indicates that the EMT had a duty to act, she breached that duty, there were damages (injury) from that breach, and that the breach could have been predicted or prevented by the EMT’s actions. If found negligent, then the EMT is liable for the injury and would usually pay a financial penalty to the plaintiff. Assault and battery deal with unlawful threatening or touching of a patient. Guilt has to do with responsibility for an action, but guilt is a concept that is reserved for criminal (not civil) cases.
During an MCI where there are multiple people injured due to a large industrial building collapse, what type of communication technology may become easily overwhelmed by the sudden usage?
a. Repeaters
b. Mobile phone
c. Mobile radios
d. Base stations
B. Rationale: Although any type of communication technology can be overwhelmed, mobile phone technology use is of particular concern to emergency services. While it may be able to handle the daily volumes of EMS use, if the system is suddenly used by many (i.e., EMS as well as the public), the mobile phone system may start to fail. This happened in some areas after the 9/11 attacks. EMS does not receive special preferential treatment by mobile phone services; as a result, they may suffer from the inability to “get through.” Radio technology rarely has this type of failure. Repeaters and base stations are components of a radio communication system.
You are at the scene of an MVA where a patient is going to be flown to the hospital due to her injuries. You are serving as the landing zone coordinator for your fire department. As you set up the landing zone, what is the minimum recommended size?
a. 50’ by 50’
b. 100’ by 100’
c. 150’ by 150’
d. 200’ by 200’
B. Rationale: In terms of the pilot’s preference, the larger the landing zone, the better. However, unlimited size is not always possible. At a bare minimum, the landing zone should be 100’ by 100’ in size, on level ground, and devoid of any overhead wires or trees. This size will accommodate the vast majority of airframes used in modern-day aeromedical transport services.
What would be the recommended training level for EMS responders as it relates to responding to hazardous material incidents?
a. First Responder Awareness
b. First Responder Operations
c. Hazardous Material Specialist
d. Hazardous Material Technician
A. Rationale: Although an EMS responder may be educated at the highest level of hazmat response, every EMS responder should at least become educated at the lowest level, which is First Responder Awareness. Simply put, at this level the responder is trained to recognize and initiate a response from proper organizations. In each of the other levels, portions of the training will include managing the hazardous materials or being responsible for the containment.
Although not entirely possible at all MVA incidents, the EMS responders should exit the emergency vehicles to what side?
a. With oncoming traffic
b. Against oncoming traffic
c. Toward the curb side of the road
d. Toward the centerline of the road
C. Rationale: The safest location for EMS personnel to exit the emergency units and to operate is between the properly positioned rescue unit and the curb of the road. This will diminish or eliminate any pedestrian or vehicle traffic between the EMS responders and the emergency vehicles the EMT is retrieving equipment from or loading the patient into.
You and your partner are attending an in-house continuing education session on terrorism. The presenter has used the term “CBRNE” multiple times but hasn’t explained it completely. Your partner leans over and asks you what the B stands for. What would be your response?
a. Burns
b. Bombs
c. Biological
d. Bionuclear
C. Rationale: The mnemonic “CBRNE” refers to common mechanism for terrorist attacks: chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive.
