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104 multiple-choice questions and 38 flashcards on Patient Treatment and Transport, about 24% of the EMT Basic NREMT bank. Every one carries a written rationale.
Patient Treatment and Transport is one of 5 chapters in CoStudy's EMT Basic (NREMT) bank, and it holds 104 of the bank's 433 multiple-choice questions — roughly 24% of the total. That proportion is not arbitrary: chapters follow the certifying body's published exam outline, and the number of questions in each is set by that domain's published weight, so the share of your practice time this chapter takes matches the share of the real exam it accounts for.
Studying by chapter is worth doing once you have a diagnostic score. A single overall percentage tells you whether you are close; it does not tell you which domain is dragging. Working a weak chapter in isolation, and re-testing it in isolation, is the fastest way to move a score that has stalled — and it is why the mock exams in CoStudy report by domain rather than as one number.
10 questions drawn from this chapter, with the full rationale shown — the controlling principle behind the right answer, and why each wrong option tempts and fails.
Aspirin for suspected ACS in adult without contraindication is:
Answer: C — 162 to 325 mg chewed
A) A single low-dose tablet swallowed whole delivers less drug and acts more slowly than the intended acute dose. B) Intravenous administration is outside the EMT scope of practice, and aspirin is not given by that route in the field. C) Correct - the chewable adult dose range is given and is chewed rather than swallowed so the antiplatelet effect begins sooner. D) That amount exceeds the acute coronary syndrome dose without added benefit and increases the risk of adverse effects.
Patient with foreign body airway obstruction who can speak and cough forcefully — best action?
Answer: C — Encourage the patient to keep coughing forcefully and monitor closely
A) Abdominal thrusts are reserved for the patient whose cough has become ineffective or who cannot speak; using them now can convert a partial obstruction into a complete one. B) Back blows belong to infant management and to the adult with an ineffective cough, not to a patient moving air well. C) Correct - a forceful cough generates more airway pressure than any maneuver the EMT can apply, so the patient is encouraged, monitored closely for deterioration, and transported. D) Chest compressions are for the unresponsive patient, and are not an intervention for someone who is speaking.
Sickle cell crisis — main field management?
Answer: D — Oxygen if hypoxic, supportive care with warmth, pain management per protocol, and prompt transport
A) Withholding oxygen and hydration worsens sickling; there is nothing to be gained by letting the patient deteriorate. B) Exertion increases oxygen demand and can extend the vaso-occlusive episode. C) Cooling promotes vasoconstriction and can worsen sickling rather than help it. D) Correct — correct hypoxia, keep the patient warm and comfortable, manage pain within protocol, and transport promptly.
A 35-year-old fell from a roof and has an obviously deformed femur, is anxious, and has a weak, rapid radial pulse. Which reasoning is MOST correct regarding destination?
Answer: B — A trauma center is appropriate because of physiologic instability with significant mechanism
B) Correct - a patient with abnormal physiology after a significant fall meets widely taught criteria for transport to a trauma center. A) Not every hospital has the surgical capability that major trauma requires, so the choices are not equivalent. C) Anxiety with poor perfusion reflects shock rather than stroke, and a stroke center does not address hemorrhage. D) Patient preference yields to destination requirements when the trauma patient is physiologically unstable.
An unresponsive patient with a suspected spinal injury — best technique to open the airway?
Answer: B — Jaw-thrust maneuver performed without extending the head or neck
A) Wrong. It is true that a patent airway is the priority, but the jaw thrust achieves the same result without extending the neck, so this maneuver is not the best choice. B) Correct. The jaw thrust displaces the mandible forward and opens the airway while keeping the head and neck in line, and a second rescuer maintains manual stabilization when available. C) Wrong. Abdominal thrusts treat a foreign body obstruction, which is a different problem and not indicated in an unresponsive patient found this way. D) Wrong. The sniffing position deliberately extends the neck and is used for airway alignment in patients without spinal concerns.
Tourniquet placement should be:
Answer: C — 2-3 inches proximal to the wound and tightened until the bleeding stops
C) Correct - the tourniquet goes on the limb above the wound, over a single long bone, and is tightened until arterial bleeding stops, with the application time noted. A) Placing it across a joint prevents the device from compressing the artery effectively. B) A tourniquet below the wound does not occlude the inflow feeding the bleeding. D) A partially tightened tourniquet occludes venous return while allowing arterial inflow, which increases bleeding rather than stopping it.
Patient breathing 28 times/min with shallow effort, SpO2 89%. Most appropriate?
Answer: D — Assist ventilations with a bag-valve mask and supplemental oxygen at a high flow rate
A) Wrong. A low-flow cannula cannot correct the problem here, which is inadequate tidal volume rather than a low inspired oxygen concentration. B) Wrong. This confuses rate with minute ventilation; a fast rate paired with shallow effort still moves too little air, and the patient is hypoxic. C) Wrong. CPAP supports a patient with an intact respiratory drive and adequate mentation who can maintain a seal, not one whose effort is failing and who needs volume delivered for him. D) Correct. Shallow tidal volume despite a rate of 28 means minute ventilation is inadequate, so the EMT assists ventilations with a bag-valve mask and supplemental oxygen.
Open pneumothorax (sucking chest wound) management?
Answer: B — Apply an occlusive dressing taped on three sides so that it acts as a vent flap
B) Correct - a three-sided dressing prevents air from being drawn in during inspiration while allowing trapped air to escape during exhalation, and the patient is monitored for tension physiology. A) A fully sealed dressing can convert an open pneumothorax into a tension pneumothorax if air accumulates with no route out; if this is used, the dressing must be burped when tension develops. C) Leaving the defect open allows air to be pulled into the pleural space with every breath and worsens lung collapse. D) Packing is used for junctional and extremity wounds, not chest wounds, where it risks driving material into the pleural space.
An EMT arrives to find an adult who is unresponsive, apneic, and pulseless after being pulled from a pool. Which sequence is MOST appropriate?
Answer: D — Begin compressions and ventilations, applying the AED as soon as it is ready
D) Correct - a pulseless drowning patient receives immediate high-quality CPR with ventilation, and the AED is used as soon as it is available. A) The pulse has already been found absent; delaying compressions for suctioning and a series of breaths postpones circulation. B) Withholding compressions while the AED is readied wastes perfusion time; compressions continue until the device is ready to analyze. C) Abdominal thrusts to remove swallowed water are not indicated and risk regurgitation and aspiration.
Suspected stroke patient — best transport destination?
Answer: C — Designated stroke center per protocol
A) Bypass when warranted. C) Correct — stroke center for thrombolytic/thrombectomy capability. C/D) Wrong specialty.
4 cards from the 38 in this chapter.
What is priapism and what does it suggest?
A persistent involuntary erection. In a trauma patient it suggests a spinal cord injury.
Nitroglycerin — when give?
Chest pain, SBP >100, NOT after PDE-5 inhibitors (Viagra, Cialis) in last 24-72 hr. 0.4 mg SL.
What are the common warning signs of a stroke an EMT screens for?
Facial droop, arm drift or one-sided weakness, and slurred or abnormal speech. Note the time the patient was last known well and transport quickly.
OPA (oropharyngeal airway)?
Hard plastic curved airway. Insert in UNCONSCIOUS patient with no gag reflex. Measure ear lobe to corner of mouth.
These are a sample. The full Patient Treatment and Transport chapter runs 142 items with per-chapter progress tracking, on the web and in the iOS app.
Open EMT Basic NREMT in CoStudy →