EMT Block 4
Your patient has a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 13, a systolic blood pressure of 80 mm Hg, and a respiratory rate of 8 breaths/min. His Revised Trauma Score (RTS) is:
9
Hypothermia occurs when the core body temperature falls below:
95 F (35 C)
What is another name for the distal end of the descending colon?
Appendix
Which of the following statements regarding compartment syndrome is correct?
Compartment syndrome typically develops within 6 to 12 hours after an injury
Which of the following symptoms is NOT one of the first signs of peritonitis?
Diarrhea
Which of the following musculoskeletal injuries would MOST likely result in deformity?
Displaced fracture
Which of the following musculoskeletal injuries would most likely result in deformity?
Displaced fracture
With regard to the three collisions that occur during a motor vehicle crash, which of the following statements regarding the first collision is correct?
It is the most dramatic part of the collision and may make extrication difficult
Which of the following statements regarding lightning strikes is correct?
Lightning strikes may cause cardiac dysrhythmias that spontaneously resolve
Which of the following statements regarding hemophilia is correct?
Patients with hemophilia may bleed spontaneously
Which of the following musculoskeletal injuries would pose the greatest threat to a patients life?
Pelvic fracture with hypotension
By what mechanism is a person injured when he or she falls from a significant height?
Potential energy is converted to kinetic energy; the kinetic energy is then converted into the work of bringing the body to a stop
A common finding during assessment of patients with an injured liver is:
Referred pain to the right shoulder
What is a very common early sign of a significant abdominal injury?
Tachycardia
Which of the following statements regarding low-energy penetrating injuries is correct?
The area of injury is usually close to the path the object took through the body
Which part of the cardiovascular system is considered "a container"?
The blood vessels
Which of the following MOST accurately describes hyperthermia?
The body is exposed to more heat than it can lose
Which of the following organs/body systems cannot tolerate lack of blood flow for more than a few minutes?
The heart and brain
Which of the following statements regarding gunshot wounds is correct?
The speed of a bullet has the greatest impact on producing injury
Which of the following parts of the female genitalia is NOT contained within the pelvis?
Vulva
Which of the following patients has experienced the MOST significant fall?
a 4'6" patient who fell 13'
Signs of late heat stroke include:
a weak, rapid pulse.
The MOST prominent symptom of decompression sickness is:
abdominal or joint pain
In moving joints, the ends of the bones are covered with:
articular cartilage
A 30-year-old male was rescued after being lost in the woods for approximately 18 hours. The outside temperature is 30 F (-1 C). He is immediately placed in the warmed ambulance, where you perform a primary assessment. He is unresponsive, pale, and apneic. You should:
assess for a carotid pulse for up to 60 seconds
A young male sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen during an altercation with a rival gang member. As your partner is assessing and managing his airway, you should control the obvious bleeding and then:
assess for an exit wound
You and your partner respond to a park where several people were reportedly struck by lightning. When you arrive, you find three patients. The first patient is lying supine on the ground; he is unresponsive and does not appear to be breathing. The second patient is ambulatory, appears confused, and is holding his arm against his chest. The third patient is sitting on the ground holding the sides of his head. After calling for backup, you should:
assess the unresponsive patient's pulse, begin CPR starting with chest compressions if he is pulseless, and attach the AED as soon as possible
When treating a patient who experienced a pulmonary blast injury, you should:
avoid giving oxygen under positive pressure
A dysbarism injury refers to the signs and symptoms related to changes in:
barometric pressure
In contrast to Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever:
can cause paralysis and cardiorespiratory collapse
The _____ link(s) the arterioles and the venules.
capillaries
When caring for a patient with a possible fracture of the scapula, the EMT should:
carefully assess the patient for breathing problems
The venom of a brown recluse spider is cytotoxic, meaning that it:
causes severe local tissue damage
The phenomenon of pressure waves emanating from the bullet, causing damage remote from its path, is known as:
cavitation
The MOST common and serious complication of a significant head injury is:
cerebral edema
When using an air splint to control bleeding in a fractured extremity, you should reassess the _____ frequently.
circulation in the injured extremity
When a warm hand is immersed in water that is 70°F (21°C), heat is transferred from the hand to the water through a process called:
conduction
The transfer of heat to circulating air, such as when cool air moves across the body's surface, is called:
convection
Drowning is MOST accurately defined as:
death from suffocation after submersion in water.
Air bags are designed to:
decrease the severity of deceleration injuries.
Which of the following would MOST likely occur as the direct result of the second collision in a motor vehicle crash?
deformed steering wheel
The MOST significant hazard associated with splinting is:
delaying transport of a critically injured patient
Which of the following findings would be LEAST suggestive of the presence of high-energy trauma?
deployment of the air bag
A supracondylar or intercondylar fracture is also known as a fracture of the:
distal humerus
A Colles fracture involves a fracture of the:
distal radius
Which of the following is of LEAST importance when initially assessing the severity of a burn?
drug allergies
During your assessment of a patient who experienced a blast injury, you note that he has a depressed area to the front of his skull. This injury MOST likely occurred:
during the tertiary phase
The hormone responsible for the actions of the sympathetic nervous system is:
epinephrine
The body's natural cooling mechanism, in which sweat is converted to a gas, is called:
evaporation
According to the American College of Surgeons, an adult trauma patient meets Level I criteria if he or she:
has a GCS score of less than or equal to 8 with a mechanism attributed to trauma
Level I criteria if he or she:
has a GCS score of less than or equal to 8 with a mechanism attributed to trauma
In contrast to a Level III trauma center, a Level I trauma center must:
have general surgeons that are in-house 24 hours a day
A 40-year-old unrestrained female impacted the steering wheel of her vehicle with her chest when she hit a tree while traveling at 45 mph. She is conscious and alert, but is experiencing significant chest pain and shortness of breath. Which of the following injuries did this patient likely NOT experience?
head injury
Shivering is a mechanism in which the body generates heat by:
increasing the metabolic rate
Abdominal rigidity and periumbilical bruising are signs of _______.
internal bleeding
A laceration:
is a jagged cut caused by a sharp object or blunt force trauma.
A driver involved in a rollover motor vehicle crash will MOST likely experience serious injuries or death if he or she:
is ejected or partially ejected
A 17-year-old female dislocated her patella while playing soccer. Her knee is flexed and she complains of severe pain. You should:
keep her knee flexed and secure it with padded board splints
The energy of a moving object is called:
kinetic energy
The _____ is the thickest chamber of the heart.
left ventricle
Bones are connected to other bones by bands of tough fibrous tissues called:
ligaments
You receive a call to a residence for a sick patient. Upon your arrival, you find the patient, a 53-year-old diabetic male, lying down on his front porch. His wife tells you that he had been mowing the lawn in the heat for the past 3 hours. The patient is confused and has hot, moist skin. His pulse is weak and thready, and his blood pressure is 90/50 mm Hg. You should:
load him into the ambulance and begin rapid cooling interventions
Which of the following is an early sign of pit viper envenomation?
local swelling and ecchymosis
When assessing the interior of a crashed motor vehicle for damage, you are gathering information regarding the:
mechanism of injury
A frostbitten foot can be identified by the presence of:
mottling and blisters
You are dispatched to a local high school track and field event for a 16-year-old male who fainted. The outside temperature is approximately 95 F (35 C) with high humidity. Upon your arrival, the patient is conscious, alert, and complains of nausea and a headache. His skin is cool, clammy, and pale. You should:
move him into the cooled ambulance
The venom of the black widow spider is toxic to the:
nervous system
The MOST common and significant complication associated with fractures or dislocations of the knee is:
neurovascular compromise
Blood leaves each chamber of a normal heart through a(n):
one-way valve
Signs and symptoms of an air embolism include all of the following, EXCEPT:
pale skin
A 77-year-old woman slipped and fell on a throw rug and landed on her left hip. She denies striking her head or losing consciousness. Assessment of her left leg reveals that it is shortened and externally rotated. Distal pulses, sensory, and motor functions are intact. You should:
place her onto a scoop stretcher, pad around her left hip with pillows, and secure her to the scoop with straps
Crepitus and false motion are:
positive indicators of a fracture.
The EMT must assume that any unwitnessed water-related incident is accompanied by:
possible spinal injury
You are transporting a 28-year-old man with a frostbitten foot. The patient's vital signs are stable and he denies any other injuries or symptoms. The weather is treacherous and your transport time to the hospital is approximately 45 minutes. During transport, you should:
protect the affected part from further injury
The only arteries in the body that carry deoxygenated blood are the:
pulmonary arteries
When the speed of a motor vehicle doubles, the amount of kinetic energy:
quadruples
A patient with a core body temperature of 95 F (35 C) will MOST likely experience:
rapid breathing
When caring for an occupant inside a motor vehicle equipped with an air bag that did not deploy upon impact, it is MOST important to:
remember that it could still deploy and seriously injure you
During transport of a 40-year-old female with acute abdominal pain, you note that she has stopped talking to you and has become extremely diaphoretic. You should:
repeat the primary assessment
The systemic veins function by:
returning deoxygenated blood back to the heart.
A 20-year-old male collided with another player during a hockey game and complains of severe pain to the left shoulder. Assessment reveals that the clavicle is bulging anteriorly at the shoulder. The EMT should suspect:
separation of the acromioclavicular joint
What type of muscle contracts and relaxes to control the movement of the contents within its structures?
smooth
You respond to a 25-year-old man who has cut his arm with a circular saw. The bleeding appears to be bright red and spurting. The patient is alert and oriented and converses with you freely. He appears to be stable at this point. What is your first step in controlling his bleeding?
standard precautions
You respond to a local lake where a diver complains of difficulty breathing that occurred immediately after rapidly ascending from a depth of approximately 30 feet. On assessment, you note that he has cyanosis around his lips and has pink froth coming from his nose and mouth. You should:
suction his mouth and nose, apply high-flow oxygen, monitor the patients breath sounds for a pneumothorax, and contact medical control regarding transport to a compression facility
Skeletal muscle is attached to the bone by tough, ropelike, fibrous structures called:
tendons
Factors that should be considered when assessing a patient who has fallen include all of the following, EXCEPT:
the speed of the fall
Most of the serious injuries associated with scuba diving are caused by:
too rapid of an ascent
The driver of a sport utility vehicle lost control and struck a utility pole head-on. The driver was killed instantly. The passenger, a young female, is conscious and alert and has several small abrasions and lacerations to her left forearm. Treatment for the passenger should include:
transport to a trauma center
Blood enters the right atrium from the:
vena cava
Pleural fluid is contained between the:
visceral and parietal pleurae.