FISDAP Trauma Test Questions With Correct Answers

During a soccer game, an 18-year-old woman injured her knee. Her knee is in a flexed position and is obviously deformed. What should you do? - Answer manually stabilize the leg above and below the knee A hiker fell 25 feet from a ledge. There is obvious deformity to his thoracic spine and he has a large laceration on his forehead. His BP is 60/40 mmHg, pulse is 50 beats/min, and respirations are 26 breaths/min. His face and chest are pale and cool, but his abdomen and lower extremities are pink and warm. Which of the following BEST describes the pathophysiology of these findings? - Answer loss of nervous system control over the systemic vasculature A man was struck in the side of the head with a steel pipe. Blood-tinged fluid is draining from the ear and bruising appears behind the ear. The MOST appropriate treatment for this patient includes: - Answer immobilizing the spine, administering oxygen, and monitoring for vomiting A man was kicked in the head and chest and stabbed in the abdomen. He is conscious, but restless, and is coughing up blood. His breathing is rapid and shallow, his skin is cool and pale, and his pulse is rapid and weak. The EMT should recognize that this patient's signs and symptoms are MOST likely the result of: - Answer internal hemorrhage A woman fell through a large glass window and has a large laceration to her inner arm that is bleeding profusely. The EMT applies a trauma dressing and direct pressure to the wound, but the dressing immediately becomes soaked with blood. What should the EMT do next? - Answer apply a proximal tourniquet and engage it until the bleeding stops After completing a rapid assessment of a patient with a penetrating chest injury, the EMT tells her partner that she suspects a pericardial tamponade. Which of the following did the EMT MOST likely encounter during her assessment? - Answer Distended jugular veins Assessment of an injured man reveals that he opens his eyes when the EMT speaks to him and pulls his arm away when the EMT palpates it. He knows his name, but cannot remember what happened and does not known what day it is. He should be assigned a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of: - Answer 11 (3 for eye opening, 4 for verbal response, 4 for motor response) A man's arm was amputated during a car crash. The patient is unresponsive; has rapid, shallow breathing; and has a rapid, weak pulse. As you and your partner are treating him, other responders are attempting to locate his severed arm. Which of the following statements regarding this scenario is correct? - Answer If the patient's arm has not been recovered by the time you are ready to transport, you should transport without delay Patients with significant closed head injuries often have pupillary abnormalities and: - Answer hypertension Assessment of a trauma patient reveals paradoxical movement to the left side of his chest. The patient is conscious, but restless, and is experiencing severe pain. His breathing is rapid and shallow and his pulse is rapid and weak. The EMT should: - Answer ventilate the patient with a bag-mask device Following a head injury, a young woman is semiconscious and is bleeding from the nose and left ear. You should: - Answer cover her ear and nose with a loose gauze pad to collect the blood (bleeding following a head injury Amy contain CSF and indicates a skull fracture; do NOT attempt to stop the flow of blood. The nasopharyngeal airway is contraindicated in patients with a possible skull fracture) Following blunt force trauma to the anterior chest, a man presents with difficulty breathing, distended jugular veins, absent breath sounds over the left side of the chest, and hypotension. Which of the following BEST describes the pathophysiology of this patient's injury - Answer Increased pressure in the pleural space is compressing the great vessels A 42-year-old man was ejected from his car after it struck a bridge pillar at a high rate of speed. You find him in a prone position approximately 50 feet from his car. He is not moving and does not appear to be breathing. You should: - Answer manually stabilize his head (when a trauma patient is found in a prone position, your first action should be to manually stabilize their head; this action is based on the assumption that the patient has a spinal injury Following blunt trauma to the chest, a 33-year-old man has shallow, painful breathing. On assessment, you note that an area to the left side of his chest collapses during inhalation and bulges during exhalation. These are signs of a/an: - Answer flail chest A patient is unresponsive with snoring respirations. His arm is amputated just above the elbow and is bleeding heavily. The EMT should: - Answer apply a proximal tourniquet A woman struck the steering wheel with her chest when her car collided with a tree. She is conscious and alert; however, she is tachypneic and diaphoretic and her pulse is rapid and irregular. What should you do? - Answer administer oxygen and protect her spine (based on clinical presentation of rapid, irregular pulse, a myocardial contusion should be suspected.) An elderly woman, who was removed from her burning house by firefighters, has full-thickness burns to approximately 50% of her body. Appropriate treatment for the patient would include: - Answer covering the burns with dry, sterile dressings and preventing further loss of body heat A construction worker spilled a bag of powdered chemical, covering both of his arms. He complains of intense pain. What should you do? - Answer Brush the chemical away from the skin surface If a passenger strike his or her head on the windshield during a motor vehicle crash: - Answer the anterior part of the brain sustains a compression injury, while the posterior part sustains a stretching injury A young man has multiple injuries after he fell approximately 35 feet. He is semiconscious and has an unstable chest wall, numerous long bone fractures, and a large hematoma to his head. He will have the BEST chance for survival if you: - Answer rapidly transport him to a trauma center A trauma patient opens his eyes slightly and moans when the EMT applies a painful stimulus. When the EMT palpates the patient's arm, he pulls it away. His Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score is: - Answer 8 (score of 2 for eye opening, score of 2 assigned for verbal response, score of 4 assigned for motor response) A man was struck in the head with a a baseball bat. He is unresponsive, his breathing is slow and irregular, and his pulse is slow and bounding. What should you do? - Answer Insert an oropharyngeal airway and ventilate with bag-mask device. (based on the MOI you should suspect significant closed head injury with ICP. Since he is unresponsive, you should insert an airway adjust to obtain patent airway. Slow, irregular breathing is not adequate and should be treated with bag-mask ventilation) A man was stabbed in the lower right ribcage. He is diaphoretic; his pulse is rapid and weak; and his respirations are regular and unlabored at 24 breath/min. Which of the following injuries should the EMT suspect? - Answer Liver laceration (anatomically, the liver is protected by the right lower ribcage) An unrestrained driver was crushed in between the steering wheel and his seat when his truck collided with a tree. Assessment revels cyanosis to his neck and face, jugular venous distention, and bleeding into the sclera of his eyes. The EMT should suspect: - Answer traumatic asphyxia (traumatic asphyxia results in a sudden amount of blood being shunted to the neck, face, and head. Signs include JVD, cyanosis to the neck, face, and head; bulging eyes, and scleral hemorrhage) Appropriate care for an amputated body part includes: - Answer laying the wrapped body part on a bed of ice. (the goal is to keep the part cool without letting it freeze or develop frostbite. Freezing may cause cellular and tissue damage, which decreases the chance of successful reattachment) Which of the following is an example of a primary blast injury? - Answer ruptured tympanic membrane (Blast injuries are a direct result of the pressure wave that occurs during an explosion. Hollow organs are the most susceptible to the primary blast wave, and ruptured tympanic membranes (eardrums) are common) A trauma patient has a BP of 172/94 mmHg, a pulse rate of 45 beats/min, and a respiratory rate of 6 breaths/min. Which of the following conditions would MOST likely produce this vital sign patter? - Answer increased intracranial pressure (the classic vital sign pattern of Cushing's Triad (hypertension, bradycardia, abnormal breathing) is present. With a head injury, the blood pressure increases in an effort to push more blood to the brain; bradycardia occurs as a reflex response to the increased blood pressure) After covering a large open chest wound with an occlusive dressing, it becomes necessary to ventilate the patient with a bag-mask device. What should you do? - Answer Remove the occlusive dressing. (if it becomes necessary to ventilate a patient after covering an open chest wound, you should remove the occlusive dressing. With the wound closed, positive pressure ventilation will quickly increase intrathoracic pressure, resulting in a tension pneumothorax. Which of the following injuries has the potential to produce the greatest amount of internal blood loss? - Answer Pelvic fracture (the pelvis is an incredibly vascular bone with major blood vessels nearby)