West Coast EMT Final Exam Questions and

West Coast EMT Final Exam Questions and Correct Answers Score 100% At First Attempt

• 1% - Ans According to the rule of palm method for estimating the extent of a patient's

burns, the palm of the patient's hand is equal to _____ of his or her total BSA.

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• 2%
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• A 49-year-old female with diabetes and difficulty breathing - Ans You are triaging four

patients who were involved in a head-on motor vehicle crash. Which of the following patients should be assigned the highest (red) triage category?

Select one:

• A 49-year-old female with diabetes and difficulty breathing
• A 29-year-old male with bilaterally closed femur deformities
• A 36-year-old female with back pain and numb extremities
• A 50-year-old male with an open head injury and no pulse

• a heart attack. - Ans A 75-year-old male with type 1 diabetes presents with chest

pain and a general feeling of weakness. He tells you that he took his insulin today and ate a regular meal approximately 2 hours ago. You should treat this patient as though

he is experiencing:

Select one:

• a heart attack.
• hyperglycemia.
• an acute stroke.
• hypoglycemia.

• acknowledge that she is scared and tell her that you will take good care of her. - Ans

You are transporting an elderly woman who has possibly experienced a stroke. She is obviously scared but is unable to talk and cannot move the entire right side of her body.

In addition to providing the medical care that she needs, you should:

• acknowledge that she is scared and tell her that you will take good care of her.
• reassure her that after proper treatment in the hospital, she will regain her speech in

time.

• tell her that you understand why she is scared and that everything will likely be okay.
• maintain eye contact at all times and tell her that there is no need for her to be

scared.

• Acute myocardial infarction - Ans A patient tells you that he has a left ventricular

assist device (LVAD). Which of the following conditions should you suspect that he has experienced?

Select one:

• Acute myocardial infarction 1 / 4

• Thoracic aortic aneurysm
• Uncontrolled hypertension
• Obstructive lung disease

• administer high-flow oxygen, place a sterile pad over her vagina, keep her warm,

elevate her lower extremities, and transport without delay. - Ans A 26-year-old female presents with heavy vaginal bleeding. She is conscious, but restless. Her blood pressure is 84/54 mm Hg, her pulse is 120 beats/min and weak, and her respirations are 22 breaths/min with adequate depth. She tells you that she inserted a tampon about

2 hours ago. You should:

Select one:

• administer high-flow oxygen, place a sterile pad over her vagina, keep her warm,

elevate her lower extremities, and transport without delay.

• administer high-flow oxygen, ask her to remove the tampon, perform a detailed

secondary assessment, and transport promptly.

• assist her ventilations with a bag-valve mask, place one sterile dressing into her

vagina, perform a rapid secondary assessment, and transport.

• administer high-flow oxygen, perform a detailed assessment of her vaginal area for

signs of trauma, place her on her side, and transport.

• administer oxygen and transport to the hospital. - Ans While jogging, a 19-year-old

male experienced an acute onset of shortness of breath and pleuritic chest pain. He is conscious and alert with stable vital signs. Your assessment reveals that he has

diminished breath sounds over the left side of the chest. You should:

Select one:

• administer oxygen and transport to the hospital.
• immediately perform a rapid head-to-toe exam.
• circumferentially tape a dressing around his chest.
• recognize that he needs a needle decompression.

• administer oxygen, give her 324 mg of aspirin, and assess her further. - Ans A 66-

year-old female with a history of hypertension and diabetes presents with substernal chest pressure of 2 hours' duration. Her blood pressure is 140/90 mm Hg, her pulse is 100 beats/min and irregular, her respirations are 22 breaths/min, and her oxygen saturation is 92%. The patient does not have prescribed nitroglycerin, but her husband

does. You should:

Select one:

• administer oxygen, give her 324 mg of aspirin, and assess her further.
• give her one nitroglycerin and reassess her systolic blood pressure.
• obtain a SAMPLE history and contact medical control for advice.
• give her high-flow oxygen, attach the AED, and transport at once.

• advise the dispatcher that you are out of service and to send another unit. - Ans You

have just delivered a major trauma patient to the hospital. Shortly after departing the hospital, dispatch advises you of another call. The back of the ambulance is 2 / 4

contaminated with bloody dressings and is in disarray, and you are in need of airway

equipment and numerous other supplies. You should:

Select one:

• advise the dispatcher that you are out of service and to send another unit.
• quickly proceed to the call and clean and restock the ambulance afterwards.
• have your partner quickly clean the ambulance as you proceed to the call.
• proceed to the call, functioning only as an emergency medical responder.

• after receiving approval from the incident commander. - Ans When functioning at the

scene of a motor vehicle crash in which a patient will require complex extrication, you

should enter the vehicle and provide care to the patient:

Select one:

• after receiving approval from the incident commander.
• only if the patient has experienced a major injury.
• after rescue personnel have cut the battery cables.
• only after you believe the vehicle has been stabilized.

• allow you to rapidly and visually form a general impression of the child. - Ans The

purpose of the pediatric assessment triangle (PAT) is to:

Select one:

• allow you to rapidly and visually form a general impression of the child.
• gather critical data by performing a rapid hands-on assessment of the child.
• determine if the child's vital signs are within the age-appropriate limits.
• facilitate a rapid head-to-toe assessment of the child by visualization only.

• apply gentle manual traction in line with the limb and reassess for a pulse. - Ans

During your assessment of a 29-year-old female with significant deformity to her left elbow, you are unable to palpate a radial pulse. Your transport time to the hospital is

approximately 40 minutes. You should:

Select one:

• apply gentle manual traction in line with the limb and reassess for a pulse.
• make two or three attempts to restore distal circulation by manipulating the elbow.
• splint the elbow in the position of deformity and transport immediately.
• carefully straighten the injured arm and secure it with padded board splints.

• applying direct pressure with a dry, sterile dressing. - Ans A 54-year-old male

experienced an avulsion to his penis when his foreskin got caught in the zipper of his pants. He was able to unzip his pants and remove the foreskin prior to your arrival. Your assessment reveals that he is in severe pain and that the avulsion is bleeding

moderately. The MOST appropriate treatment for this patient includes:

Select one:

• applying direct pressure with a dry, sterile dressing.
• administering 100% oxygen via a nonrebreathing mask.
• covering the avulsion with moist, sterile dressings.
• requesting a paramedic to administer pain medication.
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• atropine and pralidoxime chloride. - Ans Multiple people in a small town began

experiencing abdominal cramps, excessive salivation and urination, and muscle twitching shortly after a small crop duster plane made several passes over the community. As you are assessing the patients, you further determine that most of them are bradycardic and have miosis. In addition to high-flow oxygen, the MOST appropriate

treatment for these patients includes:

Select one:

• atropine and pralidoxime chloride.
• epinephrine and hyperbaric oxygen.
• activated charcoal and glucose.
• amyl nitrate and naloxone.

• bind his legs together on the backboard, keep him warm, and transport without delay.
• Ans A 21-year-old male was thrown over the handlebars of his motorcycle when he

rear-ended a car that was stopped at a red light. He was wearing a helmet, which he removed prior to your arrival. He is conscious, but restless, and has closed deformities to both of his femurs. His skin is pale, his heart rate is rapid and weak, and his

respirations are rapid and shallow. You should:

• bind his legs together on the backboard, keep him warm, and transport without delay.
• apply traction splints to both of his legs, keep him warm, and transport without delay.
• splint each of his deformed femurs with long board splints and transport without

delay.

• splint each of his deformed femurs with air splints, elevate his lower extremities, and

transport.

• brain and spinal cord. - Ans The central nervous system (CNS) is composed of the:

Select one:

• brain and spinal cord.
• cerebellum and brain.
• meninges and spinal cord.
• cerebrum and meninges.

• brush away the chemical before flushing with water. - Ans When caring for a patient

whose arm is covered with a dry chemical, you should:

Select one:

• brush away the chemical before flushing with water.
• quickly irrigate the arm with large amounts of water.
• use forceful streams of water to remove the chemical.
• deactivate the chemical with a 5% vinegar solution.

• Cover it with moist, sterile gauze and secure with an occlusive dressing. - Ans A 33-

year-old male sustained an abdominal evisceration to the left lower quadrant of his abdomen after he was cut with a large knife. After appropriately managing his ABCs and assessing him for other life-threatening injuries, how you should care for his wound?

Select one:

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