Edition by Joseph J. Mistovich Keith J Karren Brent Q.
Hafen
Chapter 1 Emergency Medical Service Systems, Research, and Public Health
1) What is a primary purpose of the modern-day EMS system?
A) Provide a means of transport to and from the hospital
B) Ensure that all members of society have equal access to hospitals
C) Decrease the incidence of death and disability related to injury and illness
D) Provide emergency health care services to medically underserved areas
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 2
Objective: 1-2
2) Most authorities agree that the modern-day EMS system evolved after the release of which
document?
A) The Emergency Medical Services Act of 1973
B) The white paper "Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society,"
in 1966
C) The American Heart Association's Guidelines for Cardiac Resuscitation
D) Emergency Medical Services: Agenda for the Future, in 1996
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 2
Objective: 1-2
3) An Emergency Medical Responder comes to you and states that they would like to work for
your emergency ambulance service on a full-time basis. Knowing the National EMS Scope of
Practice Model, you inform them of which element they need to attain first?
A) They will be able to take care of only patients with non-life-threatening complaints.
B) They will first need approval from your ambulance service's medical director.
C) They will be able to work only with an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (AEMT) or
Paramedic.
D) They will first have to become an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 3
Objective: 1-1
4) As defined by the National EMS Scope of Practice Model, the four levels of EMS practitioners
include:
A) Ambulance drivers.
B) EMS medical director.
C) Paramedics.
D) Emergency medical dispatchers.
Answer: C
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 6
,Objective: 1-3
5) An Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) approaches you and states that they are interested in
becoming an EMT. Specifically, they ask what they will be able to do as an EMT that they cannot
presently do as an EMR. You respond by saying they will be able to:
A) Administer some medications.
B) Assist in emergency childbirth.
C) Use an automated external defibrillator.
D) Obtain vital signs.
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 5-6
Objective: 1-5
6) You have been dispatched for a 61-year-old female in cardiac arrest. Emergency Medical
Responders (EMRs) are on the scene. In your community, all EMS practitioners are trained
according to the National EMS Scope of Practice Model. Given this, which type of care do you
expect the EMRs to be providing?
A) Emergency medication administration
B) Automated external defibrillation
C) Intravenous therapy
D) Reading an electrocardiogram
Answer: B
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 5-6
Objective: 1-5
7) An EMT with your service states that they desire to become a Paramedic because they want to
provide advanced care. Under the National EMS Scope of Practice Model, which one of these
types of care will they be able to provide as a Paramedic that they cannot provide as an EMT?
A) Use of an automated blood pressure monitoring
B) Assistance with emergency childbirth
C) Providing interfacility transports
D) Initiating intravenous (IV) therapy
Answer: D
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 6
Objective: 1-5
8) Which statement made by an EMT requires immediate intervention by a superior or the service
supervisor?
A) "I always wear my seat belt whenever I am in the patient compartment of the ambulance, unless
I have to remove it to care for a patient."
B) "I drive as fast as I can to get to the scene of an emergency, especially if a child is sick or injured
according to dispatch information."
C) "When I am driving with lights and sirens, I instruct my partner that he will need to handle all
radio communications."
D) "I put exam gloves on for every patient I contact, even if he or she does not have a known or
suspected infectious disease."
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 7
,Objective: 1-7
9) Which statement shows that the EMT has a good understanding of their role and responsibilities
related to being an EMT?
A) "The patient's needs come before anyone else's needs."
B) "At the scene of an emergency, my responsibility is to get to the patient no matter what."
C) "My safety comes first, and then the patient's safety."
D) "As an EMT, I recognize that the public's safety comes before the safety of me or my partner."
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 7
Objective: 1-7
10) An ambulance with two EMTs arrives in front of a house for an unknown medical emergency.
On scene, bystanders report that a female patient was beaten by her husband in the driveway and
then dragged back into the house. They state that the patient appeared unconscious and was
bleeding from the head. Which action would the EMTs perform next?
A) Do not enter the scene until it has been controlled by law enforcement.
B) Quietly enter the home and quickly move the patient to the ambulance.
C) Remove the husband from the house, then provide emergency care to the wife.
D) Enter the home to protect the patient while waiting for the police to arrive.
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 7-8
Objective: 1-7
11) Why is EMS in a unique position to contribute significantly to mobile integrated health care?
A) EMS providers are familiar with and capable of functioning in the out-of-hospital environment.
B) Ambulances are easily identified.
C) The community trusts uniformed health care providers.
D) EMS providers are familiar with the many routes of medication administration.
Answer: A
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 15
Objective: 1-14
12) You have arrived on the scene of a motor vehicle collision. A car has gone off the road and into
a utility pole. The pole is broken and wires are hanging just above the car. You do not see any
sparking or arcing of the wires. The driver of the car is slumped over the steering wheel and not
moving. Several bystanders around the car are yelling for you to help. Which steps represent the
correct order of your response?
A) Clear the bystanders, allow the fire department to secure the wires, access the patient, extricate
the patient, transport
B) Access the patient, clear the bystanders, allow the fire department to secure the wires, extricate
the patient, transport
C) Clear the bystanders, access the patient, extricate the patient, transport, allow the fire
department to secure the wires
D) Access the patient, allow the fire department to secure the wires, clear the bystanders, extricate
the patient, transport
Answer: A
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 7-8
Objective: 1-7
, 13) Once a scene is free of safety hazards, the EMT must recognize and focus on the needs of the:
A) Rescuers.
B) Patient.
C) Family.
D) Bystanders.
Answer: B
Diff: 1 Page Ref: 8
Objective: 1-7
14) You have been asked to sit on your service's quality improvement (QI) committee. As a
knowledgeable EMT, you recognize that in this role you will be involved in projects that are
primarily designed to:
A) Communicate with insurance companies for increased reimbursement.
B) Recruit and educate EMTs about the Emergency Medical Services profession.
C) Develop ways in which the delivery of emergency care can be improved.
D) Identify and reeducate EMTs who routinely do not provide proper care.
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 12-13
Objective: 1-10
15) What would be a logical project to be undertaken and developed by a quality improvement
(QI) committee?
A) Termination of EMTs who are chronically late to work
B) A program by which pay raises are based on performance and attitude
C) Community fundraiser to raise money for new EMS equipment
D) Monthly continuing education programs in which seldom-used skills are practiced
Answer: D
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 12-13
Objective: 1-10
16) You are interviewing for the position of EMT with a busy urban service. This morning you are
to meet with the service's medical director. You have been told that she likes it when applicants ask
questions about her role as the medical director. Related to her responsibilities as medical director,
which question is most appropriate?
A) "How do you determine the wages that the EMTs are paid?"
B) "How do you determine the number and location of ambulances within the system?"
C) "How often are the emergency care protocols updated?"
D) "Do you assign the daily chores that must be completed around the stations?"
Answer: C
Diff: 2 Page Ref: 11
Objective: 1-9
17) To be a medical director of an ambulance service, which requirement must the interested
individual satisfy?
A) Licensed physician
B) Emergency physician with surgical experience
C) Physician who was a paramedic