Patient Assessment Exam

By the age of 1 year, an infant's tidal volume ranges from:

10 to 15 mL/kg

An infant's fontanelles are typically fused together by the age of:

24 months

Basic language mastery typically occurs by what age?

36 months

What is a low normal blood glucose level in a newborn?

45 mg/dL

Which of the following situations is MOST challenging with regard to your critical thinking and decision-making skills?

A driver who passed out and then struck a tree

Which of the following conditions is the BEST example of a critical life threat that needs immediate care?

Acute presentation of a chronic condition

When relaying critical information using the situation, background, assessment, and recommendation (SBAR) technique, which component would address the question, "What got us to this point?"

Background

Which of the following statements regarding growth spurts in adolescents is correct?

Boys generally experience this stage of growth later inn life than girls do

An infant's sleep pattern is developed through a combination of:

CNS development and parental efforts

Which of the following statements regarding nervous system function in the older adult is correct?

Cerebral metabolism and oxygen consumption remain constant throughout life

Which of the following psychosocial changes is common during adolescence?

Fixation on public image and fear of embarrassment

Compared to lower frequency bands, higher frequency bands:

Generally have less interference

If the wife of a critically ill man asks you if her husband is going to die, the MOST appropriate response should be?

He is very sick but we are doing everything we can to help him

Which of the following statements conveys empathy?

I understand how difficult this must be. I'm here to help you.

What is the benefit of communicating over an assigned tactical channel?

It leaves the main dispatch channel open for other radio traffic

Which of the following factors typically does not affect the vital signs of a 65 year old patient?

Living conditions

Which of the following actions has the LEAST impact on the paramedic's ability to think under pressure?

Memorizing all patient care algorithms

Which of the following statements regarding middle adults is correct?

Middle adults view crisis as a challenge to be overcome rather than a threat to be avoided

Which of the following statements regarding 12-lead ECG telemetry is correct?

Most newer systems use facsimile technology to allow transmission of 12-lead ECGs

Paramedics respond to a dimly lit bar for a woman with chest pain. The jukebox is playing and several patrons are present. What should they do?

Move the patient to the restroom to begin their assessment

When asking a man a question about his chest pain, he responds in a disorganized manner. What should you do?

Put his response into simpler terms and ask if he agrees with your synopsis

Which of the following physical changes occurs in adults over 25 years of age?

Settling of the disks in the spine

Notification of EMS usually occurs when:

a bystander notifies the dispatcher via telephone

Repeating the key parts of a patient's responses to your questions demonstrates:

active listening

In general, normal psychosocial factors that affect the life of the 35-year-old person include all of the following, EXCEPT:

anxiety

When caring for a critically ill patient, three or more sets of vital signs will allow you to:

assess trends and reassess whether the patient's condition is stabilizing, getting better, or getting worse.

The decline in cardiac function associated with aging is largely related to:

atherosclerosis

Mobile transceivers:

can have a line of sight range up to 15 miles

If a parent insists on monitoring your conversation with his or her adolescent son or daughter, you should:

communicate the situation to the emergency department physician and document it accurately.

After addressing any life threats in the order in which you find them, you should next:

consider the worse-case scenario that could be causing the patient's symptoms and either rule it out or rule it in

In most infants, the primary method of communicating distress is:

crying

While treating a patient with chest pain, you administer fentanyl. Shortly after, you ask him if his pain has improved. This is an example of:

data interpretation

At minimum, sending the 12-lead ECG of a patient with chest pain to the emergency department physician via telemetry should:

decrease the time from diagnosis to treatment

Protocols, or standing orders, specify the paramedic's performance parameters, which:

define what the paramedic can or cannot do without direct medical control

After gathering patient information from the patient, scene and any bystanders, you must next:

determine which information is valid and which may be invalid

The hormonal effects associated with the fight-or-flight response can affect your performance as a paramedic by:

diminishing your ability to concentrate

When the paramedic encounters a patient who has difficulty communicating, he or she should:

enlist the help of a family member or primary caregiver

When caring for a trauma patient with multiple injuries, it is MOST important for the paramedic to:

ensure he or she does not overlook anything that can be treated in the field

Maintaining eye contact with a patient enables the paramedic to:

evaluate the patient's neurologic status

Teething is commonly accompanied by:

fever

In EMS, the process of concept formation involves:

gathering information about your patient

If your EMD suspects that your patient has a life-threatening emergency, the EMS should make you aware of the situation and then:

give prearrival instructions to the caller

When you introduce yourself to your patient and ask why 9-1-1 was called, the patient looks at you, shakes your hand, and answers your questions appropriately. From these findings, you can gather that the patient:

has a GCS score of 15

In contrast to infants, toddlers:

have a slower respiratory rate

When relaying medical information to a physician in person, you should:

include information that you did not provide during your radio report

Cellular telephones are more advantageous than regular two-way radios because cellular telephones:

incorporate GPS technology to help rescuers find the patient

The use of telemetry to confirm cardiac rhythms before treatment:

is less common as most EMS systems rely on paramedics to assess the cardiac rhythm and make independent treatment decisions

The use of ten codes over the radio:

is not recommended by the National Incident Management System (NIMS).

When assessing an older patient's pupils and ocular movements, you should recall that:

it is not uncommon for lens deterioration to cause the pupils to be sluggish to react

The MOST effective way for the paramedic to avoid tunnel vision is to:

keep an open mind to all of the possible causes of the patient's problem

Before you begin to transmit over the radio, you should check the volume and then:

listen to make sure that the channel is clear of traffic

If you want reliable answers to personal questions, you should:

manage the scene so you can ask such questions quietly and privately

Uncertainty regarding the specific cause of a patient's problem is called

medical ambiguity

According to the terminal drop hypothesis:

mental function is presumed to decline in the 5 years preceding death.

In order for the paramedic to talk and transmit an ECG simultaneously on one frequency, a ___ system is required.

multiplex

By definition, infancy begins at:

one month of age

The main disadvantage of patient care algorithms is that they:

only address classic patient presentations

Once you determine that your patient is sick, you must next:

quantify how sick he or she is

Vascular compensation for changes in blood pressure decreases with age due to:

reduced elasticity of the peripheral vessels secondary to decreases in elastin and collagen

Anxious avoidant attachment is observed in infants who are repeatedly:

rejected

After asking a patient a question about how she is feeling today, you sense that she is having difficulty putting her feelings into words. You should:

repeat the question, but ask it differently the second time

A ________ receives a weak signal and retransmits it at a higher power on another frequency.

repeater

If the paramedic is unable to defuse a hostile patient's anger, the paramedic should:

request law enforcement personnel at the scene

When reading the scene, the paramedic must remember that:

scene information becomes unavailable once transport is initiated

In conventional reasoning, school age children:

seek approval from their peers and society

When communicating medical information via radio, you should be:

simple, brief and direct

As the smooth muscles of the lower airway weaken with age:

strong inhalation can collapse the walls of the airway, resulting in inspiratory wheezing

In urban settings, radio dead spots MOST often occur in areas with:

tall buildings

The use of specialized computer terminals and networks that permit secure two-way transmission of sound, video, ECG tracings, and other diagnostic data is called:

telemedicine

When a caller requests EMS in an area that uses an enhanced 9-1-1 system:

the caller's name and address are automatically changed

Excellence in prehospital care is:

the gradual result of the provider constantly striving to improve his or her practice

The term "frequency," as it applies to radio communications, is MOST accurately defined as:

the number of oscillations per second of the carrier wave

Which of the following is not a typical element to evaluate when reading the scene of a MVC?

the person at fault

Automatic crash notification systems can provide all of the following information about a car crash EXCEPT:

the principle direction of force at the impact point

When communicating with an older patient, it is important to remember that:

their illnesses may be more complex because they may have more than one disease process and may be taking several medications concurrently

All of the following physical changes occur in school-age children EXCEPT

their vital signs become the same as adults

In order to be a competent and effective paramedic, it is MOST important for you to:

think and perform quickly and effectively under pressure

When touching a patient as a form of reassurance, the paramedic should:

touch the patient on a neutral part of his or her body

Islamic and Hindu cultures avoid:

touching with the left hand.

The ability of multiple agencies or systems to share the same radio frequency is called:

trunking

Sitting a chair next to a patient when conducting your interview promotes:

trust

When transmitting information via radio, you should

use a normal conversational tone of voice

Barotrauma caused by bag-mask ventilation in an infant means that your ventilations:

were too forceful

A working diagnosis is MOST accurately defined as:

what you feel is the cause of your patient's problem

It would be appropriate to ask a patient a closed-ended question when:

you are trying to obtain medical history information

The care plan that you implement based on your working field diagnosis of a patient is almost always defined by:

your EMS system's patient care protocols or standing orders

When providing patient care, it is MOST important that you maintain effective communication with:

your partner