FISDAP Paramedic Airway Exam Practice Questions
With 100% Correct Answers Latest Update
An 18 year old male is having an asthma exacerbation. He is becoming tired and drowsy. What finding
should concern you the most about the severity of his exacerbation?
A. Absence of breath sounds
B. High-pitched expiratory wheezing
C. Inspiration and expiratory wheezing
D. Diffuse bilateral rhonchi and rales - ANS ✔ - A. Absence of breath sounds
A patient with absent breath sounds from a prolonged asthma attack is a significant finding. The absence
of breath sounds indicates that he is unable to ventilate himself well. This is known as a silent chest.
Wheezing in an asthma patient is from bronchial constriction, and when the chest is silent it means not
enough air is being exchanged to make a wheezing sound.
A 56 year old female can only speak in 1 - 2 word sentences. She is on low-flow oxygen for congestive
heart failure. Her shortness of breath started while cleaning the house. Vital signs are BP 180/102, P 126,
R 28 with crackles, SpO2 82%. What should you do?
A. Apply high-flow oxygen
B. Apply a 3-lead ECG
C. Obtain IV access
D. Apply CPAP - ANS ✔ - D. Apply CPAP
You should apply CPAP to help inflate her alveoli. The continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) will help
provide the necessary resistance needed to prevent the alveoli from collapsing. She has a history of
congestive heart failure (CHF) and tachypneic with crackles. You should suspect the alveoli surfactant is
being diluted with blood and allowing them to collapse
Immediately after successful endotracheal intubation of a 66 year old female, you can only hear lung
sounds on the right side. What should you do?
A. Insert the tube a little deeper
B. Re-visualize tube placement through the vocal cords
, C. Pull the tube back slightly
D. Pull the tube out and reattempt intubation - ANS ✔ - C. Pull the tube back slightly
You should suspect that she has been right mainstream intubated. Pulling back slightly on the ET tube is
the first intervention you perform. The ideal location for the end of the ET tube is superior to the carina,
where the bronchus bifurcates
A 59 year old male becomes ill while shopping. His eyes are open, but he does not respond to verbal
stimulus. He has peripheral cyanosis with rapid and shallow respirations. What should you do?
A. Apply pulse oximetry to determine oxygen saturation
B. Assist ventilations with high-flow oxygen by bag-valve mask
C. Apply a 3 lead ECG and determine the heart rhythm
D. Administer oxygen and check the radial pulse - ANS ✔ - B. Assist ventilations with high-flow oxygen by
bag-valve mask
You should assist his ventilations. He has rapid, shallow respirations with peripheral cyanosis. He is in
respiratory failure, and you need to prevent it from developing into respiratory arrest or cardiac arrest
A 54 year old female is unconscious and unresponsive. She has a faint carotid pulse and snoring
respirations. What should you do?
A. Start an IV of normal saline
B. Determine a blood glucose level
C. Establish an advanced airway
D. Perform a head tilt chin-lift - ANS ✔ - D. Perform a head tilt chin-lift
She has a pulse and your next intervention should be to secure her airway. The snoring respirations
indicate there is an upper airway obstruction. The tongue is a common upper airway obstruction when
people lose consciousness and muscle tone. The tongue is a giant muscle and falls back into the
hypopharynx (back of the airway) when flaccid. Performing a head-tilt chin-lift can move the tongue off
the hypopharynx.
A 50 year old male complains of shortness of breath that awoke him in the middle of the night. His
medications are furosemide, lisinopril, and digoxin. Vital signs are BP 150/80, P 88 and irregular, R 24 with
crackles. What should you suspect?
With 100% Correct Answers Latest Update
An 18 year old male is having an asthma exacerbation. He is becoming tired and drowsy. What finding
should concern you the most about the severity of his exacerbation?
A. Absence of breath sounds
B. High-pitched expiratory wheezing
C. Inspiration and expiratory wheezing
D. Diffuse bilateral rhonchi and rales - ANS ✔ - A. Absence of breath sounds
A patient with absent breath sounds from a prolonged asthma attack is a significant finding. The absence
of breath sounds indicates that he is unable to ventilate himself well. This is known as a silent chest.
Wheezing in an asthma patient is from bronchial constriction, and when the chest is silent it means not
enough air is being exchanged to make a wheezing sound.
A 56 year old female can only speak in 1 - 2 word sentences. She is on low-flow oxygen for congestive
heart failure. Her shortness of breath started while cleaning the house. Vital signs are BP 180/102, P 126,
R 28 with crackles, SpO2 82%. What should you do?
A. Apply high-flow oxygen
B. Apply a 3-lead ECG
C. Obtain IV access
D. Apply CPAP - ANS ✔ - D. Apply CPAP
You should apply CPAP to help inflate her alveoli. The continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) will help
provide the necessary resistance needed to prevent the alveoli from collapsing. She has a history of
congestive heart failure (CHF) and tachypneic with crackles. You should suspect the alveoli surfactant is
being diluted with blood and allowing them to collapse
Immediately after successful endotracheal intubation of a 66 year old female, you can only hear lung
sounds on the right side. What should you do?
A. Insert the tube a little deeper
B. Re-visualize tube placement through the vocal cords
, C. Pull the tube back slightly
D. Pull the tube out and reattempt intubation - ANS ✔ - C. Pull the tube back slightly
You should suspect that she has been right mainstream intubated. Pulling back slightly on the ET tube is
the first intervention you perform. The ideal location for the end of the ET tube is superior to the carina,
where the bronchus bifurcates
A 59 year old male becomes ill while shopping. His eyes are open, but he does not respond to verbal
stimulus. He has peripheral cyanosis with rapid and shallow respirations. What should you do?
A. Apply pulse oximetry to determine oxygen saturation
B. Assist ventilations with high-flow oxygen by bag-valve mask
C. Apply a 3 lead ECG and determine the heart rhythm
D. Administer oxygen and check the radial pulse - ANS ✔ - B. Assist ventilations with high-flow oxygen by
bag-valve mask
You should assist his ventilations. He has rapid, shallow respirations with peripheral cyanosis. He is in
respiratory failure, and you need to prevent it from developing into respiratory arrest or cardiac arrest
A 54 year old female is unconscious and unresponsive. She has a faint carotid pulse and snoring
respirations. What should you do?
A. Start an IV of normal saline
B. Determine a blood glucose level
C. Establish an advanced airway
D. Perform a head tilt chin-lift - ANS ✔ - D. Perform a head tilt chin-lift
She has a pulse and your next intervention should be to secure her airway. The snoring respirations
indicate there is an upper airway obstruction. The tongue is a common upper airway obstruction when
people lose consciousness and muscle tone. The tongue is a giant muscle and falls back into the
hypopharynx (back of the airway) when flaccid. Performing a head-tilt chin-lift can move the tongue off
the hypopharynx.
A 50 year old male complains of shortness of breath that awoke him in the middle of the night. His
medications are furosemide, lisinopril, and digoxin. Vital signs are BP 150/80, P 88 and irregular, R 24 with
crackles. What should you suspect?
