Free NREMT EMT Practice Exam with Questions & Answers

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

In patients with acute abdominal pain, you mustfirst inspect (visualize)for distension, discoloration, or massesbeforetouching. Palpation always beginsaway fromthe most painful area. The patient should be in asupine position with knees flexedto relax the abdominal muscles and ease the exam.

Palpating a pulsating masscould rupture an abdominal aortic aneurysm and is contraindicated.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

In cases ofsexual assault, preservingevidence integrityis critical. Clothing or other forensic evidence must be placed inpaper bags. Plastic or non-breathable materials can trap moisture, promotingmold or degradation of evidencelike DNA or bodily fluids.

This approach follows chain-of-custody protocols used by law enforcement and medical facilities for handling forensic material.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The legal concept oftort negligencein EMS requires the plaintiff to establish four elements:

Duty to act

Breach of that duty

Damages (harm caused)

Causation— a direct link between the EMT’s action/inaction and the harm caused

Causation(often termed “proximate cause”) is the essential element that connects the EMT’s breach to the patient's injury or outcome. Abandonment, assault, and false imprisonment are otherintentional torts, but not core elements of proving negligence.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Givenfall with head traumaandabsent respirations, the most concerning cause isspinal injury, particularly acervical spine fracture. Ahigh cervical injury (C1–C4)canparalyze the diaphragm, leading toapnea despite a beating heart.

Brain herniation can also depress respirations but often presents withunequal pupils,posturing, andCushing’s triad(not described here).Commotio cordisis sudden cardiac arrest from blunt chest trauma (not head).Open pneumothoraxaffects chest mechanics, not directly linked here.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Hepatitis Avirus is transmittedexclusively via the fecal-oral route. Ingesting contaminated food or water allows the virus to enter the digestive tract, infecting liver cells. It's often spread through poor hand hygiene or unsanitary food handling.

It isnot bloodborne, unlike Hepatitis B and C. It is not commonly spread through saliva or urine.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

InIncident Command System (ICS)for Mass Casualty Incidents (MCI), the four major sections are:

Planning: Collects data and develops response strategies

Logistics: Supplies and personnel

Finance/Administration: Cost tracking, contracts, compensation

Stagingis atactical location, not a management section.Catering and aviationare not command-level ICS designations unless part of specific tasks under logistics or operations.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), only designated personnel are authorized to handle inquiries regarding a patient’s Protected Health Information (PHI). The Privacy Officer is responsible for enforcing compliance with privacy regulations and addressing PHI access requests.

Shift supervisors or hospitals do not have the legal authority to release PHI unless specifically designated.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The patient is in hypoperfusion (shock) from blood loss. In shock states, tissues are deprived of oxygen, leading to anaerobic metabolism, which produces lactic acid as a byproduct. This causes metabolic acidosis, which is a critical sign of systemic oxygen debt.

Carbon dioxide rises with respiratory failure, but lactic acid is a more specific indicator of cellular hypoxia.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Agonal respirations arenot effective breathingand can mimic gasping or snorting. They often occur incardiac arrest. However, before initiating chest compressions, the EMT mustconfirm pulselessnessby checking acarotid pulse for no more than 10 seconds(AHA 2020 BLS Guidelines).

Only after pulse confirmation (or absence) should compressions begin. Suctioning or ventilating is premature unless a pulse is found.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Clavicle deformity suggests potential rib or thoracic trauma. Unequal chest rise may indicate a flail segment, pneumothorax, or hemothorax. Subcutaneous emphysema, the presence of air under the skin, is a classic finding in pneumothorax or tracheobronchial injury.

Occipital depression is not chest related; epigastric distension is a GI symptom; and jugular vein distention would suggest tension pneumothorax or cardiac tamponade, which are more advanced complications.