PALS
PALS TEST QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
You are caring for patients in the emergency department. Which 2-year-old child requires immediate
intervention?
A child who is grunting
A child with an SpO2 of 95% on room air
A child with a systolic blood pressure of 92 mm Hg
A child with a temperature of 37.4°C (99.3°F)
In which of the following situations may IO access be used?
An extremity with signs of infection
An extremity with signs of a crush injury
An extremity with a previous unsuccessful IO attempt
An extremity with slow a capillary refill time
A 2-week-old infant is being evaluated for irritability and poor feeding. His blood pressure is 55/40 mm Hg,
and capillary refill time is 5 seconds. Which statement best describes your assessment of this infant’s blood
pressure?
It represents compensated shock.
It is hypertensive.
It is hypotensive.
It is normal.
A 3-year-old child is having difficulty breathing. What finding would most likely lead you to suspect an
upper airway obstruction in this child?
Expiratory breath sounds
Decreased expiratory effort
Increased inspiratory effort with retractions
Normal inspiratory sounds
A team member is unable to perform an assigned task because it is beyond the team member’s scope of
practice. What action should the team member take?
Ask for a new task or role
Refuse to perform the task
Do it anyway
Seek expert consultation
You are the Team Leader during a pediatric resuscitation attempt. What action is an element of high-quality
CPR?
Providing a compression depth of one fourth the depth of the chest
Providing a compression rate of 80 to 100/min
Allowing complete chest wall recoil after each compression
Performing pulse checks every minute
PALS
, PALS
An 8-year-old child is brought to the emergency department by his mother for difficulty breathing. He has a
history of asthma and nut allergies. His mother tells you that he recently ate a cookie at a family picnic. What
condition is most likely to be present in this child?
Disordered control of breathing
Hypovolemic shock
Lung tissue disease
Upper airway obstruction
An 8-year-old child is brought to the emergency department by ambulance after being involved in a motor
vehicle collision. What finding would suggest that immediate intervention is needed? A. Decreased level of
consciousness
Systolic blood pressure of 106 mm Hg
Temperature of 38.1°C (100.5°F)
Warm, moist skin
A 6-year-old child is found unresponsive, not breathing, and without a pulse. One healthcare worker leaves to
activate the emergency response system and get the resuscitation equipment. You and another healthcare
provider immediately begin performing CPR. What compression-to- ventilation ratio do you use?
A. 15:1
B. 30:1
C. 15:2
D. 30:2
A 3-year-old child is in cardiac arrest, and high-quality CPR is in progress. You are the Team Leader. The
first rhythm check reveals the rhythm shown here. Defibrillation is attempted with a shock dose of 2 J/kg.
After shock administration, what should you say to your team members?
“Check for a pulse.”
“Give epinephrine 0.01 mg/kg.”
“Let’s check the rhythm.”
“Resume compressions.”
Use this scenario to answer the next 2 questions:
You are caring for a 5-year-old boy with a 4-day history of high fever and cough. He is having increasing
lethargy, grunting, and sleepiness. Now he is difficult to arouse and is unresponsive to voice commands. His
oxygen saturation is 72% on room air and 89% when on a nonrebreathing oxygen mask. He has shallow
respirations with a respiratory rate of 38/min. Auscultation of the lungs reveals bilateral crackles.
What assessment finding is consistent with respiratory failure in this child?
Cough
Fever
Oxygen saturation
PALS
PALS TEST QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
You are caring for patients in the emergency department. Which 2-year-old child requires immediate
intervention?
A child who is grunting
A child with an SpO2 of 95% on room air
A child with a systolic blood pressure of 92 mm Hg
A child with a temperature of 37.4°C (99.3°F)
In which of the following situations may IO access be used?
An extremity with signs of infection
An extremity with signs of a crush injury
An extremity with a previous unsuccessful IO attempt
An extremity with slow a capillary refill time
A 2-week-old infant is being evaluated for irritability and poor feeding. His blood pressure is 55/40 mm Hg,
and capillary refill time is 5 seconds. Which statement best describes your assessment of this infant’s blood
pressure?
It represents compensated shock.
It is hypertensive.
It is hypotensive.
It is normal.
A 3-year-old child is having difficulty breathing. What finding would most likely lead you to suspect an
upper airway obstruction in this child?
Expiratory breath sounds
Decreased expiratory effort
Increased inspiratory effort with retractions
Normal inspiratory sounds
A team member is unable to perform an assigned task because it is beyond the team member’s scope of
practice. What action should the team member take?
Ask for a new task or role
Refuse to perform the task
Do it anyway
Seek expert consultation
You are the Team Leader during a pediatric resuscitation attempt. What action is an element of high-quality
CPR?
Providing a compression depth of one fourth the depth of the chest
Providing a compression rate of 80 to 100/min
Allowing complete chest wall recoil after each compression
Performing pulse checks every minute
PALS
, PALS
An 8-year-old child is brought to the emergency department by his mother for difficulty breathing. He has a
history of asthma and nut allergies. His mother tells you that he recently ate a cookie at a family picnic. What
condition is most likely to be present in this child?
Disordered control of breathing
Hypovolemic shock
Lung tissue disease
Upper airway obstruction
An 8-year-old child is brought to the emergency department by ambulance after being involved in a motor
vehicle collision. What finding would suggest that immediate intervention is needed? A. Decreased level of
consciousness
Systolic blood pressure of 106 mm Hg
Temperature of 38.1°C (100.5°F)
Warm, moist skin
A 6-year-old child is found unresponsive, not breathing, and without a pulse. One healthcare worker leaves to
activate the emergency response system and get the resuscitation equipment. You and another healthcare
provider immediately begin performing CPR. What compression-to- ventilation ratio do you use?
A. 15:1
B. 30:1
C. 15:2
D. 30:2
A 3-year-old child is in cardiac arrest, and high-quality CPR is in progress. You are the Team Leader. The
first rhythm check reveals the rhythm shown here. Defibrillation is attempted with a shock dose of 2 J/kg.
After shock administration, what should you say to your team members?
“Check for a pulse.”
“Give epinephrine 0.01 mg/kg.”
“Let’s check the rhythm.”
“Resume compressions.”
Use this scenario to answer the next 2 questions:
You are caring for a 5-year-old boy with a 4-day history of high fever and cough. He is having increasing
lethargy, grunting, and sleepiness. Now he is difficult to arouse and is unresponsive to voice commands. His
oxygen saturation is 72% on room air and 89% when on a nonrebreathing oxygen mask. He has shallow
respirations with a respiratory rate of 38/min. Auscultation of the lungs reveals bilateral crackles.
What assessment finding is consistent with respiratory failure in this child?
Cough
Fever
Oxygen saturation
PALS
