EMT Chapter 14 PreTest Homework Test

Which question is pertinent to taking a patient's past medical history? A. "Do you have any other medical problems?" B. "Can you describe the pain you're feeling?" C. "Can you show me where it hurts?" D. "Do you recall when you began feeling pain?"

A. "Do you have any other medical problems?"

During the respiratory assessment, what is a question an EMT might ask related to how the patient sleeps? A. "Do you sleep on pillows?" B. "How many hours of sleep make you feel well-rested?" C. "Do you sleep with the light on?" D. "What is the thread count of your sheets?"

A. "Do you sleep on pillows?"

What is an example of an open-ended question? A. "What can you tell me about the pain in your feet?" B. "Do you feel pain in both feet?" C. "Does it hurt when I touch your foot here?" D. "Is the pain worse in your right foot than your left?"

A. "What can you tell me about the pain in your feet?"

When using the memory aid SAMPLE, which of the following would you do to determine L? A. Ask, "When was the last time you had anything to eat or drink?" B. Ask, "When was the last time you took your medicine?" C. Listen to the patient's lung sounds. D. Look at the patient's pupils.

A. Ask, "When was the last time you had anything to eat or drink?"

Mr. Hughes is a 49-year-old man complaining of chest pain. To find out about the quality of his chest pain, which of the following questions is most appropriate? A. Can you describe how the pain in your chest feels? B. Does anything make the pain worse? C. On a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the worst, how would you rate your level of pain? D. Are you having pain anywhere beside your chest?

A. Can you describe how the pain in your chest feels?

Which of the following terms best describes a list of potential diagnoses that is compiled early in the assessment of the patient? A. Differential diagnosis B. Critical thinking C. Red flag D. EMS diagnosis

A. Differential diagnosis

You have asked the patient about recent oral intake. This helps you assess which body system? A. Gastrointestinal system B. Endocrine system C. Cardiovascular system D. Respiratory system

A. Gastrointestinal system

Which of the following describes skepticism about one thing causing another? A. Illusory correlation B. Representativeness C. Confirmation bias D. Availability

A. Illusory correlation

Which of the following is one advantage of using heuristics? A. It speeds up the process of diagnosis. B. It provides a more accurate diagnosis. C. It slows the process of diagnosis. D. It allows you to treat the patient during diagnosis.

A. It speeds up the process of diagnosis.

An EMT's assessment differs from an assessment made in the emergency department in which way? A. The EMT is working with limited resources. B. The emergency physician is concerned with scene safety. C. An EMT's focus is on life threats first. D. Time is available in the emergency department to make a diagnosis.

A. The EMT is working with limited resources.

A question is closed if it is: A. a simple "yes" or "no" question. B. self-evident and therefore rhetorical. C. too narrowly focused to provide useful information. D. about a confidential issue

A. a simple "yes" or "no" question.

Once you have identified a possible diagnosis, you should not stop looking for causes, because: A. many patients have more than one thing wrong with them. B. you are not as experienced as an emergency physician. C. you need to reflect on what you learned to be certain of your diagnosis. D. every patient represents an opportunity to increase your level of competence.

A. many patients have more than one thing wrong with them.

When your patient tells you that he had a heart valve replaced 2 years ago, this is considered: A. pertinent past medical history. B. a chief complaint. C. a part of the cardiovascular body system examination. D. history of the present illness.

A. pertinent past medical history.

Mrs. Butler is a 66-year-old woman who is complaining of chest pain. Which of the following questions would be best in helping you determine if the pain is radiating? A. Are you experiencing any other symptoms? B. Are you having pain anywhere beside your chest? C. Are you having pain in your arm? D. Does anything make the pain better or worse?

B. Are you having pain anywhere beside your chest?

Your elderly patient reports having stomach cramps for several hours. He denies any trauma and he hasn't eaten for several hours. Which of the following is most important to your assessment of this patient? A. Asking him if he is able to walk B. Asking if he has been having regular bowel movements C. Determining if he has been taking his medications as prescribed D. Finding out if he has any chest pain

B. Asking if he has been having regular bowel movements

Which of the following diagnostic shortcuts would make the EMT say "This patient has the same thing my last patient had?" A. Overconfidence B. Availability C. Confirmation bias D. Illusory correlation

B. Availability

Which of the following methods should be used to have a patient rate the amount of pain he is having? A. Use the memory aid SAMPLE to elicit a pain description from the patient. B. Use closed-ended questions to have the patient rate the pain. C. Have the patient rate the pain on a scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain). D. Ask the patient to state whether the pain is mild, moderate, severe, or unbearable

C. Have the patient rate the pain on a scale of 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain).

When assessing a patient's pertinent past history, you should ask which of the following questions? A. Are you currently taking any medications? B. Could you describe what happened? C. Have you been having any medical problems? D. Have you ever had a reaction to a medication?

C. Have you been having any medical problems?

Your patient is a 16-year-old female who is reporting abdominal pain and nausea. She says it came on when she woke up this morning. Her mother says that her daughter has been tired and cranky lately and has not been eating well for a couple of weeks. In fact, every time you ask a question, the patient's mother answers. What should you do next? A. Tell the mother to leave the room. B. Ignore the mother and continue to try to talk to the patient. C. Have your partner interview the mother in the next room. D. Ask the mother to please be quiet.

C. Have your partner interview the mother in the next room.

________ are signs or symptoms that suggest the possibility of a particular problem that is very serious. A. Worst-case scenarios B. Differentials C. Red flags D. All of the above

C. Red flags

You are dispatched to a residence for a 34-year-old male who is complaining of severe abdominal pain that has persisted for the past 2 hours. On arrival, the patient tells you that he would rate the pain as a 9 on a 0-10 scale. To what part of OPQRST would this information apply? A. P B. Q C. S D. O

C. S

Expert clinicians may use different approaches of thinking through problems, but which of the following will they have in common? A. Dislike of ambiguity B. Organization of data in their head C. Strong foundation of knowledge D. Knowledge that one strategy works for everyone

C. Strong foundation of knowledge

While an EMT forms a field diagnosis on the scene of an emergency, how do the steps differ from the traditional approach to diagnosis? A. Due to the limited time spent with the patient, the EMT must rely on a differential diagnosis. B. The EMT must perform a patient assessment to begin the process of forming a diagnosis. C. The EMT must rule in or out the most serious conditions associated with the patient's presentation. D. The EMT does not have time to form a differential diagnosis and must rely on prior experience when treating a patient.

C. The EMT must rule in or out the most serious conditions associated with the patient's presentation.

The purpose of a good history question is to: A. rule out life threats. B. determine the patient's reliability as a source of information. C. identify new questions to ask. D. get the history completed as soon as possible.

C. identify new questions to ask.

You are obtaining a history of the present illness from a patient experiencing a severe allergic reaction. The patient was drinking from a public fountain just prior to the allergic reaction and insists that something in the water caused the reaction. You think it is more likely an environmental factor caused the reaction, and that the patient's belief is likely: A. search satisfying. B. anchoring and adjustment. C. illusory correlation. D. confirmation bias.

C. illusory correlation.

You have responded for a patient with shortness of breath. He reports that his breathing problems began this morning and have gotten worse over the last few hours. You ask if he has taken anything to help his symptoms and he tells you that he has used his inhaler several times in the last hour. The information you have just gathered can be classified as: A. part of the SAMPLE history. B. results of a physical exam. C. the history of present illness. D. relevant past medical history.

C. the history of present illness.

When you begin interviewing your patient, he tells you that he has not felt well for several months, ever since he had his gallbladder removed. He goes on to tell you that he cannot get his wife to schedule a doctor's appointment for him and when she remembers to call, the office is always closed. Which of the following is the best way to proceed? A. Ask him for a list of his medications. B. Begin your assessment of his vital signs. C. Try to call his doctor to schedule an appointment. D. Ask him why he decided to call 911 today.

D. Ask him why he decided to call 911 today.

Your patient is a 22-year-old college student complaining of abdominal pain. She is alert and oriented, although somewhat uncomfortable. Which of the following should be your first action? A. Palpate the patient's abdomen for tenderness and guarding. B. Perform a physical examination. C. Take the patient's roommate aside and ask about the patient's medical history. D. Ask the patient to describe the pain and find out if she has other complaints

D. Ask the patient to describe the pain and find out if she has other complaints

Your patient is a 15-year-old female complaining of shortness of breath. Which of the following is not appropriate during the focused exam? A. Looking at the use of her accessory muscles B. Assessing her mental status C. Listening to her lung sounds D. Checking her pupils for reactivity to light

D. Checking her pupils for reactivity to light

What is the feeling of bone ends rubbing together called? A. Edema B. Rhonchi C. Orthopnea D. Crepitation

D. Crepitation

When using the memory aid OPQRST, which of the following questions would help you find out about P? A. Are you having any pain? B. Do you have any past medical history? C. What is your primary complaint? D. Does anything make the pain better or worse?

D. Does anything make the pain better or worse?

You have a patient who is unresponsive on the floor. What is the best way to rule in or rule out trauma as a cause of the patient's unresponsiveness? A. Perform a stroke scale on the patient. B. Examine the patient for signs of trauma. C. Check the patient's blood glucose to rule out hypoglycemia. D. Look for bystanders and ask them if they witnessed the incident.

D. Look for bystanders and ask them if they witnessed the incident.

What process would you use to discover the circumstances surrounding the chief complaint of the responsive medical patient? A. PERRL B. SAMPLE C. AVPU D. OPQRST

D. OPQRST

Which of the following techniques of physical examination must an EMT master? A. Auscultation, observation, and percussion B. Visualization, percussion, and auscultation C. Percussion, inspection, and palpation D. Observation, palpation, and auscultation

D. Observation, palpation, and auscultation

During a neurologic assessment, which type of speech would likely be of most interest? A. Patient is verbose and talkative. B. Patient interrupts often to ask questions about his care. C. Patient tends to use very simple vocabulary. D. Patient uses word inappropriately.

D. Patient uses word inappropriately.

You and another EMT are discussing a call he previously ran. The EMT said the patient had classic chest pain symptoms and he treated it as a possible heart attack, but he later found out the patient just had indigestion and was discharged 2 hours later. The EMT was concerned that his patient assessment skills were not as good as they should be, and that the ED physician will no longer trust his judgment. How should you respond to his concerns? A. Tell him that his misdiagnosis is a result of anchoring. B. Tell him that his misdiagnosis is a result of confirmation bias. C. Tell him that his misdiagnosis is a common EMT mistake caused by illusionary correlation. D. Tell him that his misdiagnosis is a result of limited information.

D. Tell him that his misdiagnosis is a result of limited information.

What is crepitation? A. Wheezing or gurgling sounds in the upper airway B. A crackling sound heard on inhalation C. Distention or swelling of the abdominal region D. The feeling of bones rubbing together

D. The feeling of bones rubbing together

What is the primary goal of the EMS approach to diagnosis? A. To institute long-term treatment B. To reach a definitive diagnosis C. To assess and cure chronic illness D. To find and treat life threats

D. To find and treat life threats

Which of the following statements represents an attitude you should cultivate as an EMT to help you think like an expert? A. Depend only on the knowledge you learned in EMT training. B. Find one strategy that works and apply it to everything. C. Learn to avoid ambiguity. D. Understand the limitations of technology and people.

D. Understand the limitations of technology and people.

Once you have reached a possible diagnosis for a patient, you should: A. aggressively treat the patient for that condition only. B. assume your diagnosis is wrong and start your assessment over from the beginning. C. stop looking for other causes for the patient's signs and symptoms. D. continue to look for data that will help rule in or rule out other conditions.

D. continue to look for data that will help rule in or rule out other conditions.

The process by which an EMT forms a field diagnosis is known as: A. differential thinking. B. clinical thinking. C. diagnostic thinking. D. critical thinking.

D. critical thinking.

A 66-year-old male patient has slipped on the ice, fallen, and broken his ankle. During your assessment, he states that he has diabetes. This statement would be considered part of the: A. physical examination. B. differential diagnosis. C. history of the present illness. D. past medical history.

D. past medical history.

A bystander is giving you information about what happened to an unconscious patient. In assessing this information, you would NOT consider the bystander's: A. reliability as a witness. B. familiarity with EMS. C. potential for bias. D. personality.

D. personality.

A patient describes symptoms that appear to fit with pedal edema from congestive heart failure, but the patient simply has gout. This demonstrates the drawback of: A. confirmation bias. B. availability. C. illusory correlation. D. representativeness.

D. representativeness.

You are on the scene in the bad part of town for an unresponsive 18-year-old type 1 diabetic patient. His mother states that he is very noncompliant with his diabetes management and often goes unresponsive due to low blood sugar. After performing the primary assessment, you believe that this is the most likely cause of his unresponsiveness. However, after taking a capillary glucose reading you are surprised to see that the patient's sugar level is normal. How will you now determine the field diagnosis? A. You cannot make a correct diagnosis in the field because you cannot perform all the necessary tests with your limited scope of practice. B. Continue patient care by getting a complete SAMPLE history and perform a complete secondary assessment. C. Recognize that the mother was lying to you. The patient is not diabetic and you now must assume that everything she told you is wrong. D. Recognize that the mother is probably trying to protect her son from jail. Tell her that it is critical that she tell you what drugs he actually took.

B. Continue patient care by getting a complete SAMPLE history and perform a complete secondary assessment.

You are dispatched for a patient with chest pain. Your patient tells you that she has had shortness of breath and chest pain for about 20 minutes. Which of the following questions will give you the best information regarding your patient's chest pain symptoms? A. Have you taken your medications correctly? B. Describe how the pain feels. C. Do you have a history of chest pain? D. Is the pain in your chest a sharp pain?

B. Describe how the pain feels.

A list of potential diagnoses compiled early in the patient's assessment is known as which of the following? A. Assessment-based diagnosis B. Differential diagnosis C. Traditional diagnosis D. Emergency medical diagnosis

B. Differential diagnosis

Mr. Green is complaining of severe difficulty breathing after being stung by a bee. His wife states he has had reactions to bee stings before, but not quite this severe. Which medications should you specifically ask him about? A. Beta-blockers B. Epinephrine C. Insulin D. Antibiotics

B. Epinephrine

In the traditional approach to diagnosis in medicine, what is the step that follows the differential diagnosis? A. Physical examination of the patient B. Further evaluation C. Taking the patient's vital signs D. Taking the patient history

B. Further evaluation

You are assessing a 12-year-old male who recently had a seizure. He is currently alert. He tells you his back hurts. You ask him what medications he is currently taking, including any medications for back pain. Which of the following elements of SAMPLE history have you used when asking this question? A. S B. M C. P D. A

B. M

In which part of OPQRST would you learn that your patient became dizzy after working in the garden? A. T B. O C. Q D. P

B. O

Of the following, which would most likely give the best information regarding your patient's mental status? A. Last oral intake B. Patient's ability to know person, place, time, and purpose C. List of allergies D. Pulse and respiratory rate

B. Patient's ability to know person, place, time, and purpose

In which of the component of OPQRST would you learn that the patient is experiencing crushing pain? A. S B. Q C. O D. P

B. Q

"If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck-except when it isn't" is a way to summarize which of the following? A. Illusory correlation B. Representativeness C. Confirmation bias D. Overconfidence

B. Representativeness

Obtaining a past medical history would LEAST involve what letter of the SAMPLE mnemonic? A. A B. S C. E D. P

B. S

You are on the scene of a 16-year-old patient in respiratory distress. The patient has a history of asthma. After placing the patient on oxygen and performing the primary and secondary assessments, you are confident that the patient is indeed having an asthma attack. How can you be sure your field diagnosis is accurate? A. Constantly reassess the patient to make sure you are correct. B. Think of all possible causes of respiratory distress and rule them in or out as potential diagnoses based on your clinical findings. C. Keep your EMT textbook with you on the ambulance and review it to confirm your diagnosis. D. Ask your partner her opinion; if she also agrees that it is asthma, the diagnosis is correct.

B. Think of all possible causes of respiratory distress and rule them in or out as potential diagnoses based on your clinical findings.

You ask your patient "What does your discomfort in your chest feel like?" This would be an example of: A. a closed-ended question. B. an open-ended question. C. a heuristic. D. differential diagnosis

B. an open-ended question.

Understanding the limitations of your knowledge and how this affects your patient care is an underlying premise of: A. forming a strong foundation of knowledge. B. learning to love ambiguity. C. realizing that no one strategy works for everything. D. organizing data in your head.

B. learning to love ambiguity.

While assessing the past medical history of a 68-year-old male patient involved in a fall from a 4-foot stepladder, you use the acronym SAMPLE. What does the A refer to? A. Auscultate B. Acute C. Allergies D. Assessment

C. Allergies

Critical thinking is best exemplified by which EMT? A. An EMT sees no mechanism of injury at a glance and so assumes that a patient is stable. B. An EMT's first impression of a patient with altered mental status is that the patient is on drugs. C. An EMT sees that the patient has altered mental status and conducts a thorough assessment to include or rule out possible causes. D. An EMT decides that a patient in an agitated state is just in a mild panic attack and needs to calm down.

C. An EMT sees that the patient has altered mental status and conducts a thorough assessment to include or rule out possible causes.

Which of the following would you assess during the physical examination of the respiratory system? A. Use of nitroglycerin B. Palpation of the abdomen C. Ankle edema D. Unusual breath odors

C. Ankle edema

A description of a patient's condition that assists a clinician in further evaluation and treatment is known as which of the following? A. Clinical decision B. Critical thinking C. Diagnosis D. Red flag

C. Diagnosis