Question 1

You are transporting a 28-year-old man with a frostbitten foot. The patient\'s vital signs are stable and he denies any other injuries or symptoms. The weather is treacherous and your transport time to the hospital is approximately 45 minutes. During transport, you should:

Accepted Answer

protect the affected part from further injury.

Question 2

High air temperature reduces the body\'s ability to lose heat by:

Accepted Answer

radiation.

Question 3

The body\'s natural cooling mechanism, in which sweat is converted to a gas, is called:

Accepted Answer

evaporation.

Question 4

A 20-year-old male was pulled from cold water by his friends. The length of his submersion is not known and was not witnessed. You perform a primary assessment and determine that the patient is apneic and has a slow, weak pulse. You should:

Accepted Answer

provide rescue breathing, remove wet clothing, immobilize his spine, keep him warm, and transport carefully.

Question 5

Which of the following is an early sign of pit viper envenomation?

Accepted Answer

local swelling and ecchymosis

Question 6

You and your partner respond to a park where several people were reportedly struck by lightning. When you arrive, you find three patients. The first patient is lying supine on the ground; he is unresponsive and does not appear to be breathing. The second patient is ambulatory, appears confused, and is holding his arm against his chest. The third patient is sitting on the ground holding the sides of his head. After calling for backup, you should:

Accepted Answer

open the unresponsive patient\'s airway with the jaw-thrust maneuver, assess his ABCs, and begin CPR and attach the AED as soon as possible.

Question 7

Which of the following statements regarding lightning strikes is correct?

Accepted Answer

Lighting often results in a brief period of asystole that resolves spontaneously.

Question 8

Which of the following medications increases a person\'s risk of a heat-related emergency?

Accepted Answer

diuretics

Question 9

The venom of a black widow spider is toxic to the:

Accepted Answer

nervous system.

Question 10

Hypothermia can worsen internal bleeding secondary to:

Accepted Answer

blood clotting abnormalities.

Question 11

A dysbarism injury refers to the signs and symptoms related to changes in:

Accepted Answer

barometric pressure.

Question 12

To assess a patient\'s general temperature, pull back on your glove and place the back of your hand on his or her skin at the:

Accepted Answer

abdomen.

Question 13

In contrast to the brown recluse spider, the black widow spider:

Accepted Answer

is large and has a red-orange hourglass mark on its abdomen.

Question 14

The transfer of heat to circulating air, such as when cool air moves across the body\'s surface, is called:

Accepted Answer

convection.

Question 15

A 48-year-old male was stung on the leg by a jellyfish while swimming in the ocean. He is conscious and alert, but complains of intense pain at the wound site. Specific treatment for this patient includes:

Accepted Answer

irrigating the wound with vinegar and immersing his leg in hot water.

Question 16

Burns associated with lightning strikes are typically:

Accepted Answer

superficial.

Question 17

The two MOST efficient ways for the body to eliminate excess heat are:

Accepted Answer

sweating and dilation of skin blood vessels.

Question 18

A 30-year-old male was rescued after being lost in the woods for approximately 18 hours. The outside temperature is 30Â°F (-1Â°C). He is immediately placed in the warmed ambulance, where you perform a primary assessment. He is unconscious, pale, and apneic. You should:

Accepted Answer

assess for a carotid pulse for up to 45 seconds.

Question 19

Drowning is MOST accurately defined as:

Accepted Answer

death from suffocation after submersion in water.

Question 20

You are dispatched to a residence for a young female who is sick. The patient complains of a rash to her lower extremities and truncal area. Your assessment reveals a small, painful blister on her inner thigh. As your partner is taking the patient\'s vital signs, she states that she and her family returned from a camping trip two days ago. On the basis of this patient\'s presentation, you should suspect:

Accepted Answer

Lyme disease.

Question 21

An air embolism associated with diving occurs when:

Accepted Answer

the diver holds his or her breath during a rapid ascent.

Question 22

A frostbitten foot can be identified by the presence of:

Accepted Answer

mottling and blisters.

Question 23

In order for sweating to be an effective cooling mechanism:

Accepted Answer

it must be able to evaporate from the body.

Question 24

Heatstroke occurs when

Accepted Answer

the body\'s heat-eliminating mechanisms are overwhelmed.

Question 25

The MOST prominent symptom of decompression sickness is:

Accepted Answer

abdominal or joint pain.

Question 26

Signs of late heatstroke include:

Accepted Answer

a weak, rapid pulse.

Question 27

While drinking beer with his friends near a creek, a 31-year-old male was bitten on the leg by an unidentified snake. The patient is conscious and alert and in no apparent distress. Your assessment of his leg reveals two small puncture marks with minimal pain and swelling. In addition to administering oxygen and providing reassurance, further care for this patient should include:

Accepted Answer

supine positioning, splinting the leg, and transporting.

Question 28

High humidity reduces the body\'s ability to lose heat through:

Accepted Answer

evaporation.

Question 29

Which of the following conditions would be the LEAST likely to increase a person\'s risk of hypothermia?

Accepted Answer

hyperglycemia

Question 30

Heat loss from the body through respiration occurs when:

Accepted Answer

warm air is exhaled into the atmosphere.

Question 31

Geriatric patients are at a higher risk for heatstroke because

Accepted Answer

circulation to the skin is reduced.

Question 32

Rough handling of a hypothermic patient with a pulse may cause:

Accepted Answer

ventricular fibrillation.

Question 33

The venom of a brown recluse spider is cytotoxic, meaning that it:

Accepted Answer

causes severe local tissue damage.

Question 34

Covering a patient\'s _________ will significantly minimize radiation heat loss.

Accepted Answer

head

Question 35

You are dispatched to a local high school track and field event for a 16-year-old male who fainted. The outside temperature is approximately 95Â°F (35Â°C) with high humidity. Upon your arrival, the patient is conscious, alert, and complains of nausea and a headache. His skin is cool, clammy, and pale. You should

Accepted Answer

move him into the cooled ambulance.

Question 36

You respond to a local lake where a diver complains of difficulty breathing that occurred immediately after rapidly ascending from a depth of approximately 30â². On assessment, you note that he has cyanosis around his lips and has pink froth coming from his nose and mouth. You should:

Accepted Answer

suction his mouth and nose, apply high-flow oxygen, position him on his left side with his head down, and contact medical control regarding transport to a recompression facility.

Question 37

You and your partner are standing by at a large social event at a river resort when a frantic woman tells you that she found a young male floating face-down in the water. Nobody claims to have witnessed the event. After you and your partner enter the water and reach the patient, you should:

Accepted Answer

move him as a unit to a supine position.

Question 38

The diving reflex may allow a person to survive extended periods of submersion in cold water secondary to:

Accepted Answer

bradycardia and a slowing of the metabolic rate.

Question 39

A person\'s ability to shiver is lost when his or her body temperature falls below:

Accepted Answer

90Â°F (32Â°C).

Question 40

Your assessment of a 23-year-old female reveals a core body temperature of 93.4Â°F (34Â°C). She is conscious, answers your questions appropriately, is shivering, and complains of nausea. Her skin is cold and pale, her muscles appear rigid, and her respirations are rapid. In addition to monitoring her ABCs, administering oxygen, and turning up the heat in the back of the ambulance, you should:

Accepted Answer

place heat packs to her groin, axillae, and behind her neck; cover her with warm blankets; and avoid rough handling.

Question 41

The EMT must assume that any unwitnessed water-related incident is accompanied by:

Accepted Answer

possible spinal injury.

Question 42

You receive a call to a residence for a sick patient. Upon your arrival, you find the patient, a 53-year-old diabetic male, lying down on his front porch. His wife tells you that he had been mowing the lawn in the heat for the past 3 hours. The patient is confused and has hot, moist skin. His pulse is weak and thready, and his blood pressure is 90/50 mm Hg. In addition to administering 100% oxygen, you should

Accepted Answer

load him into the ambulance and begin rapid cooling interventions.

Question 43

When the body loses sweat, it also loses:

Accepted Answer

electrolytes.

Question 44

The body\'s natural protective mechanisms against heat loss are:

Accepted Answer

vasoconstriction and shivering.

Question 45

Which of the following would be the LEAST likely to occur in a patient with a core body temperature of between 89Â°F (32Â°C) and 92Â°F (33Â°C)?

Accepted Answer

tachycardia

Question 46

When a warm hand is immersed in water that is 70Â°F (21Â°C), heat is transferred from the hand to the water through a process called:

Accepted Answer

conduction.

Question 47

A patient with a core body temperature of 95Â°F (35Â°C) will MOST likely experience:

Accepted Answer

rapid breathing.

Question 48

Which of the following statements regarding drowning is correct?

Accepted Answer

Laryngospasm following submersion in water makes rescue breathing difficult.

Question 49

Hypothermia occurs when the core body temperature falls below:

Accepted Answer

90Â°F (32Â°C).

Question 50

Signs and symptoms of an air embolism include all of the following, EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

pale skin.

Question 51

Patients with generalized hypothermia are at an increased risk of a local cold injury because:

Accepted Answer

blood is shunted away from the extremities to the body\'s core.

Question 52

Breath-holding syncope is caused by a decreased stimulus to breathe and occurs when:

Accepted Answer

a swimmer hyperventilates prior to entering the water.

Question 53

Common signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion include all of the following, EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

hot, dry skin.

Question 54

Shivering is a mechanism in which the body generates heat by:

Accepted Answer

increasing the metabolic rate.

Question 55

Geriatric patients, newborns, and infants are especially prone to hyperthermia because they:

Accepted Answer

exhibit poor thermoregulation.

Question 56

Compared to adults, infants and children are at higher risk for hypothermia for all of the following reasons, EXCEPT:

Accepted Answer

a relatively small surface area.

Question 57

To obtain the MOST accurate reading of a patient\'s core body temperature, you should place a special hypothermia thermometer:

Accepted Answer

into the patient\'s rectum.

Question 58

All of the following snakes are pit vipers, EXCEPT for the:

Accepted Answer

coral snake.

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