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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 young male patient who was angry with friends wandered away from a party and spent the night outside uncovered in 40-50°F temperatures. He is confused, has decreased but adequate breathing, and has a weak radial pulse. His skin is cool and capillary refill delayed. You note that he is not shivering. Based on this presentation, what can you safely conclude?
2. Which of these patients is losing body heat by the mechanism of convection?
3. Which of these statements about immersion hypothermia is false?
4. A patient has been bitten by what appears to be a black widow spider. The bite to her left hand is dull and achy, and the patient states that the muscles in her shoulders and back are starting to hurt, as if they are cramping up. After ensuring that no life-threatening conditions are present and administering oxygen, the EMT should:
5. A 43-year-old male patient has removed a tick from his arm prior to your arrival. He is refusing all care at this time. Which of these statements made by the EMT would be most appropriate?
6. An Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) quickly checks the breathing and pulse of a patient with Alzheimer's disease who has been sleeping outside in the cold for several hours. The EMR informs you that the patient grimaces to painful stimuli but is not breathing and does not have a pulse. What is your best response?
7. A young man has been struck by lightning on a golf course and is in cardiac arrest. Other golfers say that he was struck 8-10 minutes ago. What should the EMT do immediately?
8. What of these patients is most accurately described as suffering an environmental emergency?
9. A 23-year-old female patient has been stung in the right arm by some unidentified marine life. Her arm and hand are swollen and red. The primary assessment is unremarkable and she is complaining of pain to the site of injury. You would:
10. Following a direct lightning strike, which symptoms should the EMT expect the patient to display?
11. Regarding snakebites, which of these statements is true?
12. 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?
13. Which thermometer should be utilized by an EMT when assessing the temperature of a patient with hypothermia?
14. A 44-year-old female patient was hiking in a state park when she was bitten by a snake in her left calf. To get help, she had to hike 4 miles to the first-aid station where you are located. The hike took her 1½ hours. Your assessment reveals a red and swollen area to her leg, and the patient complains of discomfort to that area. Closer inspection reveals two puncture wounds in the center of the affected area. The patient asks you if she is going to die from the snake bite. What would be your most appropriate reply?
15. You are called for an elderly woman who has slipped on the ice. On arrival, you find her supine on an icy sidewalk and responsive to painful stimuli with decorticate posturing (flexion). She has blood coming from a laceration on the back of her head and is breathing agonally at 4 times a minute. What should you do immediately?
16. A person is in a hot environment and his body is successfully compensating to off-load excess heat. Which assessment findings best illustrate this process?
17. Which of these findings would present earliest in a patient with hypothermia?
18. In which of these settings will sweating be less effective as a means to cool the body?
19. You have been chosen by the medical director to give a 15-minute presentation on cold- related emergencies to a local volunteer fire department. In preparing the talk, which teaching point should you emphasize?
20. A patient has been bitten by an unidentified snake. Which of these statements made by the patient would lead the EMT to believe that the snake was poisonous?
21. When providing needed oxygen to a patient with a core temperature of 95°F and adequate breathing, which strategy is the best option?
22. 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:
23. During the summer months, you work as an EMT at a first aid station that helps people who hike trails in the high mountains of the western United States. One afternoon, you are presented with a 42-year-old male patient who was just at an altitude of 14,000 feet while hiking. The patient states that while at this altitude he experienced a severe headache, became very uncoordinated and stumbled often, and felt very nauseous. He became scared, so he left the trail to be seen in the first aid station. The patient indicates that he feels better now. Given this description, what would be the most likely differential diagnosis?
24. Consumption of large amounts of water during prolonged periods of exertion can result in which disorder?
25. The EMT should recognize heat cramps as the probable cause of a patient's problem when the patient states: