. EMT PATIENT ASSESSMENT TEST
Comprehensive Questions (Frequently
Tested) with Verified Answers Graded
A+
You are assessing a patient who fell off a ladder. He is conscious and alert and complaining of
pain to his right side and shortness of breath. This is known as ________
A. The chief complaint
B. The nature of illness
C. A sign
D. The mechanism of injury - Answer: A
Primary assessment - Answer: - Identify and begin treatment of immediate or imminent life
threats
- Must physically examine the patient and assess level of consciousness (LOC) and airway,
breathing, and circulation (ABC)
Steps of primary assessment - Answer: 1. Form a general impression of your patient and the
environment
2. Conduct a first look test
3. Determine level of consciousness (AVPU, GCS)
4. Assess airway - if alert, open airway; if V, P, or U, open airway with jaw thrust, consider
oral/nasal airway and suctioning
5. Assess breathing - determine rate, rhythm, quality for 30 seconds
,6. Assess breath sounds - Mid axillary unless abnormal, then all six positions
7. Administer oxygen 15 L by nonrebreather
8. Assess pulse - determine rate, rhthym, quality for 30 seconds; if responsive palpate radial
artery, if unresponsive palpate carotid artery
9. Assess skin color, temperature, and moisture
10. Assess capillary refill
11. Assess and control life threatening external bleeding
12. Perform a rapid scan (60-90 seconds)
13. Determine priority care and transport
Form a general impression - Answer: - Determines the priority of care
- Note patient's sex, age, race, level of distress, overall appearance, position, and whether he is
moving or still
- Approach patient from his feet, so he can see you coming
- Refer to patient by name
- Ask about chief complaint
- You will define the patient's condition as stable, potentially unstable, or unstable
For patients who are unconscious: - Answer: - Focus initial assessment on problems with airway,
breathing, and circulation, which are critical life threats
- Sustained unconsciousness should warn you that a critical respiratory, circulatory, or central
system problem or deficit may exist
- Presume that the patient has a critical injury or life-threatening condition until proven
otherwise
For patients who are conscious with altered LOC: - Answer: - This state can be caused by
medications, drugs, alcohol, or poisoning; this may indicate that inadequate perfusion is
adversely affecting the brain and its ability to function
,- Further assessment will be required for any patient with an altered LOC
Perfusion - Answer: The circulation of blood within an organ or tissue to provide necessary
oxygen and nutrients and to remove waste
AVPU scale - Answer: Tests a patient's responsiveness
- Awake and alert
- Responsiveness to verbal stimuli
- Responsive to pain
- Unresponsive
Areas to simulate pain - Answer: - Pinch areas such as the patient's ear, back of the upper arm
(triceps), the trapezius area (the muscle above the collar bone), or apply upward pressure along
the ridge of the orbital rim along the underside of the eyebrow
Orientation - Answer: Tests a patient's mental status by checking his or her memory and
thinking ability
Most common test evaluates a patient's ability to remember: - Answer: - Person: the patient is
able to remember his or her name (evaluates long-term memory)
- Place: the patient is able to identify his or her current location (evaluates intermediate
memory)
- Time: the patient is able to tell you the current year, month, and approximate date (evaluates
intermediate memory when asking year or month, evaluates short-term memory when asking
approximate date and event)
- Event: the patient is able to describe what happened (MOI or NOI)
Altered mental status - Answer: Any deviation from alert and oriented to person, place, time,
and event
, What is this an example of: A painful femur fracture that prevents the patient from noticing
back or neck pain - Answer: A distracting injury
General conditions that cause sudden death: - Answer: - Airway obstruction
- Respiratory failure
- Respiratory arrest
- Shock
- Severe bleeding
- Primary cardiac arrest
When a patient has life-threatening bleeding, you should address life threats to circulation first,
in the sequence of: - Answer: Circulation, airway, breathing (CAB)
If there is a potential for trauma, use ____ to open the airway - Answer: Jaw-thrust maneuver
Foreign objects that may create obstruction: - Answer: - Dentures
- Blood clots
- Vomitus
- Mucus
- Food
Signs of airway obstruction in an unconscious patient include: - Answer: - Obvious trauma,
blood, or other obstruction
- Noisy breathing, such as snoring, bubbling, gurgling, crowing, stridor, or other abnormal
sounds (normal breathing is quiet)
- Extremely shallow or absent breathing (airway obstructions may impair breathing)
Comprehensive Questions (Frequently
Tested) with Verified Answers Graded
A+
You are assessing a patient who fell off a ladder. He is conscious and alert and complaining of
pain to his right side and shortness of breath. This is known as ________
A. The chief complaint
B. The nature of illness
C. A sign
D. The mechanism of injury - Answer: A
Primary assessment - Answer: - Identify and begin treatment of immediate or imminent life
threats
- Must physically examine the patient and assess level of consciousness (LOC) and airway,
breathing, and circulation (ABC)
Steps of primary assessment - Answer: 1. Form a general impression of your patient and the
environment
2. Conduct a first look test
3. Determine level of consciousness (AVPU, GCS)
4. Assess airway - if alert, open airway; if V, P, or U, open airway with jaw thrust, consider
oral/nasal airway and suctioning
5. Assess breathing - determine rate, rhythm, quality for 30 seconds
,6. Assess breath sounds - Mid axillary unless abnormal, then all six positions
7. Administer oxygen 15 L by nonrebreather
8. Assess pulse - determine rate, rhthym, quality for 30 seconds; if responsive palpate radial
artery, if unresponsive palpate carotid artery
9. Assess skin color, temperature, and moisture
10. Assess capillary refill
11. Assess and control life threatening external bleeding
12. Perform a rapid scan (60-90 seconds)
13. Determine priority care and transport
Form a general impression - Answer: - Determines the priority of care
- Note patient's sex, age, race, level of distress, overall appearance, position, and whether he is
moving or still
- Approach patient from his feet, so he can see you coming
- Refer to patient by name
- Ask about chief complaint
- You will define the patient's condition as stable, potentially unstable, or unstable
For patients who are unconscious: - Answer: - Focus initial assessment on problems with airway,
breathing, and circulation, which are critical life threats
- Sustained unconsciousness should warn you that a critical respiratory, circulatory, or central
system problem or deficit may exist
- Presume that the patient has a critical injury or life-threatening condition until proven
otherwise
For patients who are conscious with altered LOC: - Answer: - This state can be caused by
medications, drugs, alcohol, or poisoning; this may indicate that inadequate perfusion is
adversely affecting the brain and its ability to function
,- Further assessment will be required for any patient with an altered LOC
Perfusion - Answer: The circulation of blood within an organ or tissue to provide necessary
oxygen and nutrients and to remove waste
AVPU scale - Answer: Tests a patient's responsiveness
- Awake and alert
- Responsiveness to verbal stimuli
- Responsive to pain
- Unresponsive
Areas to simulate pain - Answer: - Pinch areas such as the patient's ear, back of the upper arm
(triceps), the trapezius area (the muscle above the collar bone), or apply upward pressure along
the ridge of the orbital rim along the underside of the eyebrow
Orientation - Answer: Tests a patient's mental status by checking his or her memory and
thinking ability
Most common test evaluates a patient's ability to remember: - Answer: - Person: the patient is
able to remember his or her name (evaluates long-term memory)
- Place: the patient is able to identify his or her current location (evaluates intermediate
memory)
- Time: the patient is able to tell you the current year, month, and approximate date (evaluates
intermediate memory when asking year or month, evaluates short-term memory when asking
approximate date and event)
- Event: the patient is able to describe what happened (MOI or NOI)
Altered mental status - Answer: Any deviation from alert and oriented to person, place, time,
and event
, What is this an example of: A painful femur fracture that prevents the patient from noticing
back or neck pain - Answer: A distracting injury
General conditions that cause sudden death: - Answer: - Airway obstruction
- Respiratory failure
- Respiratory arrest
- Shock
- Severe bleeding
- Primary cardiac arrest
When a patient has life-threatening bleeding, you should address life threats to circulation first,
in the sequence of: - Answer: Circulation, airway, breathing (CAB)
If there is a potential for trauma, use ____ to open the airway - Answer: Jaw-thrust maneuver
Foreign objects that may create obstruction: - Answer: - Dentures
- Blood clots
- Vomitus
- Mucus
- Food
Signs of airway obstruction in an unconscious patient include: - Answer: - Obvious trauma,
blood, or other obstruction
- Noisy breathing, such as snoring, bubbling, gurgling, crowing, stridor, or other abnormal
sounds (normal breathing is quiet)
- Extremely shallow or absent breathing (airway obstructions may impair breathing)
