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Prehospital Emergency Care Practice Test: Handling Environmental Emergencies
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Environmental emergencies can include a variety of patient presentations, such as heat and cold exposure, toxic envenomation, exposure to allergens, and noxious plants.  Here are some symptoms of environmental emergencies: Hyperthermia: Elevated core temperature, muscle cramps, altered mental status, weakness, headache, nausea or vomiting, rapid, strong pulse at first, which deteriorates into thready pulse, deep, rapid breathing at first, which deteriorates into shallow and weak breathing, skin that is cool and moist during early stages, skin that is hot at late stages,... Show more
Prehospital Emergency Care Practice Test: Handling Environmental Emergencies
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25 Questions

1. A patient who is conscious and breathing has been pulled from a stream of cold water. To decrease her loss of heat via the mechanism of conduction, the EMT should immediately:
2. During an in-service program, your medical director asks if anyone can tell her the cause of heat cramps. What response would be most appropriate?
3. You have been called to a park for a teenage boy who is 'sick.' On scene, you find a 16- year-old male patient who knows his name but is confused about place and time. Friends state that they have been playing basketball most of the morning and afternoon. The temperature is in the 90s and the humidity is high. The patient's airway is patent and his breathing is fast but adequate. His pulse is weak and rapid. Observation of his skin reveals it to be pale, cool, and moist. Oxygen is being administered via nonrebreather face mask by Emergency First Responders. Which other step would be appropriate care for this patient?
4. The EMT should recognize heat cramps as the probable cause of a patient's problem when the patient states:
5. You are en route to the hospital with a patient who is unresponsive and has hot, dry skin. His friends state that the patient had been drinking and passed out in the hot sun for several hours before 911 was called. An Emergency Medical Responder is ventilating the patient with a bag- valve mask attached to supplemental oxygen. Which of these actions would be most beneficial to the patient next?
6. A landscaper who has been working in 105°F weather is found collapsed in a client's yard. He is responsive to painful stimuli and has an open airway. His breathing is shallow, alveolar breath sounds are absent, and radial pulse is weak. The patient's skin is hot and dry and appears to be sunburned. The EMT should immediately:
7. Which sign or symptom best indicates that the patient with cold skin is experiencing generalized hypothermia?
8. You are giving a talk on hunting safety. A hunter asks you when someone should attempt to rewarm a hand or foot that is frostbitten. What is your best response?
9. A patient has been bitten by a nonpoisonous grass snake. Your care would include:
10. You have been asked by your medical director to put together an emergency kit specifically for patients who have been stung or bitten by small marine life animals. Which of these items should you place in that kit?
11. When cooling a patient with possible heat stroke, which of these findings would be of most concern to the EMT?
12. You are accompanying a team of hikers climbing a high mountain. In the morning, you are summoned to a tent and find one of the climbers confused and complaining of a headache. His airway is patent and respirations adequate. He has no medical history and was in good health until found this morning by his friend. You are suspicious of high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE). What should you do to help the patient?
13. On entering an apartment for a call related to a confused elderly female patient, you note that the air conditioner is running on high and the room is extremely cold. Which other clue obtained during the scene size-up would best indicate that this patient may be suffering from urban hypothermia?
14. An intoxicated 24-year-old female patient has been struck by lightning and is conscious but confused. Which of these assessment findings should the EMT investigate further first?
15. You are caring for a patient with an extensive freezing cold injury to his right hand and arm. Which of these instructions would be appropriate to give to your EMT partner?
16. A young boy complains of pain to his fingers after spending several hours outside riding a sled in cold winter temperatures. After ensuring he has no life-threatening conditions, you turn your attention to his hands and note that the fingers are cold to the touch. You suspect that he is suffering from a superficial freezing cold injury. Which sign or symptom would help confirm this suspicion?
17. Which of these statements about immersion hypothermia is false?
18. You have been called for a 78-year-old female patient who slipped while getting out of her bathtub. She is confused and cold to the touch. You learn that the patient slipped 24 hours ago and has been on the bathroom's tile floor ever since. Since it is summer, she also had her air conditioner running on high. The EMT would best categorize this emergency as:
19. A patient with hypothermia is in cardiac arrest. The automated external defibrillator (AED) is applied and delivers one shock. Following the shock, what should the EMT do next?
20. In which of these settings will sweating be less effective as a means to cool the body?
21. Which of these patients with heat emergency would be the highest priority for transport?
22. Which of these findings would present earliest in a patient with hypothermia?
23. Medical direction has asked you to remove a tick from behind the left ear of a 5-year-old girl. You would:
24. Which thermometer should be utilized by an EMT when assessing the temperature of a patient with hypothermia?
25. A patient at a mountain ski resort presents to you with notable shortness of breath. She denies any past medical history and takes no medications. Your assessment reveals crackles to the bases of both lungs. After applying oxygen, you realize that the key to helping this patient improve is to: