Jones and Bartlett EMT Testprep

the active, muscular part of breathing is called:

inhalation

A 22-year-old man crashed his motorcycle into a tree. He is found approximately 20 feet away from his bike and is responsive to pain only. He is not wearing a helmet. You are unable to effectively open his airway using the jaw-thrust maneuver. What should you do?

Carefully tilt his head back and lift up on his chin.

what is the function of pulmonary surfactant?

it lubricates the alveolar walls and allows them to expand and recoil.

which of the following devices is contraindicated in patients with blunt thoracic trauma?

Oxygen-powered ventilator.

You are performing abdominal thrusts on a 19-year-old male with a severe airway obstruction when he becomes unresponsive. After lowering him to the ground and placing him in a supine position, you should:

begin CPR, starting with chest compressions.

As you begin ventilating an unresponsive apneic man, you hear gurgling in his upper airway. Your MOST immediate action should be to

quickly turn the patient onto his side so secretions can drain

Which of the following injuries or conditions should be managed FIRST

Bleeding within the oral cavity

You are assessing a 66-year-old man who has emphysema and complains of worsened shortness of breath. He is confused, has a heart rate of 120 beats/min, and an oxygen saturation of 89%. Which of the following assessment findings should concern you the MOST?

Confusion

An inaccurate pulse oximetry reading may be caused by:

severe peripheral vasoconstriction.

A patient who is breathing with reduced tidal volume would MOST likely have

shallow respirations

During your assessment of an unresponsive adult female, you determine that she is apneic. You should:

assess for a carotid pulse.

In which of the following situations would you MOST likely encounter agonal gasps?

Shortly after becoming unresponsive and pulseless

A patient overdosed on heroin and is unresponsive. He is cyanotic; he has slow, shallow breathing; and his oxygen saturation is 80%. The primary cause of this patient's condition is inadequate

ventilation

which of the following statements regarding the head tilt-chin lift maneuver is correct?

it should be used in conjunction with an appropriate airway adjunct.

Hypoxia is defined as:

inadequate oxygen to the body's cells and tissues.

Which of the following signs or symptoms is indicative of cerebral hypoxia

decreased level of consciousness

Clinically, reduced tidal volume would MOST likely present with respirations that are:

shallow

To obtain the most reliable assessment of a patient's tidal volume, you should

look at the rise of the chest

A patient overdosed on several drugs and is unresponsive with shallow breathing and facial cyanosis. As you continue your assessment, the patient suddenly vomits. You should:

turn the patient onto his side

A properly placed oropharyngeal airway

keeps the tongue off of the posterior pharynx.

An elderly woman with COPD is semiconscious with labored breathing. Her face is cyanotic, her pulse is rapid and weak, and her oxygen saturation is 75%. You should

ventilate her with a bag-valve-mask device and high-flow oxygen.

Shallow breathing is an indication of:

decreased tidal volume.

During your initial attempt to ventilate an unresponsive apneic patient, you meet resistance and do not see the patient's chest rise. You should

reposition the head and reattempt to ventilate

If an adult patient presents with a respiratory rate of 26 breaths/min, your initial action should be to

Evaluate his mental status and the depth of his respirations

To ensure you deliver the highest concentration of oxygen with a nonrebreathing mask, you should:

make sure the reservoir bag is pre-inflated

The lower airway begins at the

larynx

Which of the following yields the lowest minute volume?

Respiratory rate of 14 breaths/min; tidal volume of 300 mL.

When attaching an oxygen regulator to a D cylinder and preparing it for use, you should recall that:

oxygen supports combustion and should not be used where sparks are easily generated.

All of the following would cause an increased level of carbon dioxide in the arterial blood, EXCEPT:

deep, rapid breathing

an unresponsive patients respirations are 28 breaths/min and shallow. The MOST appropriate treatment includes:

assisted ventilations with 100% oxygen.

Which of the following is the MOST correct technique for ventilating an apneic adult who has a pulse?

Deliver each breath over 1 second at a rate of 12 breaths/min.

Agonal respirations are not adequate because they are:

infrequent, gasping respiratory efforts.

When ventilating an apneic patient with a bag-valve-mask device, each breath should be delivered over:

1 second

After an initial attempt to ventilate an unresponsive apneic patient fails, you reposition the patient's head and reattempt ventilation without success. You should next

perform chest compressions, open the airway, and look in the mouth

While providing initial ventilations to an apneic adult with a bag-valve-mask device, you note minimal rise of the chest despite an adequate mask-to-face seal. You should:

increase the volume of your ventilations.

The MOST effective way to determine if you are providing adequate volume during artificial ventilation is:

assessing the chest for adequate rise.

When suctioning copious secretions from a semiconscious adult's airway, you should:

avoid touching the back of the airway with the suction catheter.

While managing a patient with acute shortness of breath, you attempt to apply a nonrebreathing mask set at 12 L/min. The patient pulls the mask away from his face, stating that it is smothering him. You should:

reassure the patient and apply a nasal cannula instead.

The MOST appropriate treatment for a semiconscious patient with slow, shallow respirations includes:

a nasopharyngeal airway and assisted ventilation with a bag-valve-mask device.

An unresponsive man has shallow, gurgling respirations at a rate of 8 breaths/min. Initial treatment should include:

suctioning of the oropharynx.

Which of the following processes occurs during cellular/capillary gas exchange?

The capillaries give up oxygen to the cells.

A patient with a mild foreign body airway obstruction:

is typically not cyanotic.

An elderly man is found lying unresponsive next to his bed. The patient's wife did not witness the events that led to his unresponsiveness. You should immediately:

grasp the angles of the lower jaw and lift.

The tidal volume of an unresponsive patient is rapidly assessed by:

observing for chest rise during inhalation.

Medications such as Albuterol (Ventolin) relieve respiratory distress by:

relaxing the smooth muscle of the bronchioles.

A 22-year-old male has a shard of glass impaled in his cheek. You look inside his mouth and see minor bleeding.

carefully stabilize the shard of glass and allow him to suction his own mouth.

Which of the following processes occurs during inhalation?

The intercostal muscles and diaphragm both contract.

Which of the following statements regarding artificial ventilation of an apneic patient who has dentures is correct?

Tight-fitting dentures should be left in place because they facilitate the delivery of adequate tidal volume.

After an adult cardiac arrest patient has been intubated by a paramedic, you are providing ventilations as your partner performs chest compressions. When ventilating the patient, you should:

deliver each breath over 1 second at a rate of 10 breaths/min.

A 60-year-old woman has severe respiratory distress. She is conscious, but confused, and can only say two words at a time. Which of the following would be the MOST appropriate treatment for her?

Ventilation with a bag-valve-mask device.

In which position would you place an uninjured, unresponsive patient with a respiratory rate of 14 breaths/min and adequate tidal volume?

Lateral Recumbent

Which of the following airway sounds indicates a lower airway obstruction?

Wheezing

A 50-year-old woman presents with acute shortness of breath. Her skin is pale and she is anxious. You should:

administer high-flow oxygen and assess the adequacy of her breathing.

Ventilation is defined as the:

Movement of air into and out of the lungs

You are assessing a middle-aged male who is experiencing respiratory distress. The patient has a history of emphysema and hypertension. He appears fatigued; has weak retractions; and demonstrates labored, shallow breathing. Your MOST immediate action should be to:

ventilate him with a bag-valve-mask device.

Tidal volume is defined as the:

volume of air inhaled or exhaled per breath.

Prior to your arrival, a woman experiencing an asthma attack took two puffs from her prescribed inhaler without relief. After administering supplemental oxygen, you should:

contact medical control for further advice.

A 50-year-old man, who fell approximately 20 feet and landed on a hard surface, is semiconscious. You should:

stabilize his head while performing the jaw-thrust maneuver.

A 60-year-old woman presents with acute respiratory distress. She is conscious and alert, but restless. Her respiratory rate is 26 breaths/ min with adequate chest expansion, her breath sounds are clear to auscultation bilaterally, and her oxygen saturation is 84%. Which of the following is the MOST appropriate treatment for this patient?

Supplemental oxygen with a nonrebreathing mask.

In which of the following situations should the jaw-thrust maneuver be used?

When the mechanism of injury is unknown.

You are assessing an elderly man with respiratory distress. He is coughing up bloody sputum and has an oxygen saturation of 85%. You auscultate his breath sounds and hear coarse crackles in all lung fields. This patient MOST likely has:

congestive heart failure.

Snoring respirations in an unresponsive patient are MOST often the result of

upper airway obstruction by the tongue.

The method by which you administer supplemental oxygen to a hypoxemic patient depends MOSTLY on the:

severity of hypoxemia and adequacy of breathing.

Which of the following patients obviously needs positive-pressure ventilation assistance?

Responsive to pain only; respiratory rate of 8 breaths/min and shallow

An unresponsive 60-year-old male is apneic and has a weak, rapid pulse. His oxygen saturation reads 79%. You should:

deliver one breath over 1 second every 5 to 6 seconds.

Which of the following clinical findings is MOST consistent with a chronic respiratory disease?

A barrel-shaped chest

Occasional, irregular breaths that may be observed in a cardiac arrest patient are called:

agonal gasps.

An apneic patient has severe facial trauma and bleeding in the oropharynx. How should this situation be managed?

Alternate suctioning for 15 seconds and ventilations for 2 minutes.

Oxygen that is administered through a nasal cannula would be of LEAST benefit to a patient who:

breathes through his or her mouth.

Which of the following occurs during positive-pressure ventilation?

Intrathoracic pressure increases.

A 60-year-old female is found unresponsive. She is cyanotic, is making a snoring sound, and has a slow respiratory rate. You should:

manually open her airway

An unresponsive apneic patient's chest fails to rise after two ventilation attempts. You should:

immediately proceed to chest compressions.

Which of the following would MOST likely occur if an adult patient is breathing at a rate of 45 breaths/min with shallow depth?

Most of his or her inahled air will not go beyond the anatomic dead space.

At the peak of the inspiratory phase, the alveoli in the lungs contain:

more oxygen than carbon dioxide.

You are ventilating an apneic adult with a bag-valve-mask device and high-flow oxygen. Her pulse rate is 130 beats/min and she has cyanosis to her face and chest. The MOST reliable indicator of adequately performed ventilations in this patient is:

a decrease in her heart rate to 90 beats/min.

A 56-year-old man has labored, shallow breathing at a rate of 28 breaths/min. He is responsive to pain only. You should:

insert a nasopharyngeal airway and begin assisting his ventilations.

You are ventilating an apneic 50-year-old woman with a bag-valve-mask device. After squeezing the bag and noting visible chest rise, you should.

allow the patient to completely exhale

If the level of carbon dioxide in the arterial blood increases:

the respiratory rate and depth increase

A patient's skin will MOST likely become cyanotic if he or she has:

a decrease in the amount of arterial oxygen.

Which of the following patients has signs of inadequate breathing?

41-year-old woman with shallow respirations of 14 breaths/min.

When ventilating an unresponsive apneic adult with a bag-valve-mask device, you should ensure that:

an airway adjunct has been inserted.

Signs of inadequate breathing in an unresponsive patient include:

cyanotic oral mucosa.

Which of the following describes the correct technique for inserting a nasopharyngeal airway?

Insert the device with the bevel facing the septum

The respiratory system functions by:

bringing oxygen into the lungs and eliminating carbon dioxide.

A young female experienced massive facial trauma and is unresponsive. After several attempts, you are unable to adequately open her airway with the jaw-thrust maneuver. You should:

carefully tilt her head back and lift up on her chin.

The process of loading oxygen molecules onto hemoglobin molecules in the bloodstream is called:

oxygenation

Patients with a hypoxic drive:

are stimulated to breathe by low oxygen levels in the blood.

A young woman overdosed on heroin and is unresponsive with slow, shallow breathing. She begins to gag after you insert an oropharyngeal airway. You should:

remove the oropharyngeal airway and be prepared to suction her mouth.

You are dispatched to a residence for an elderly female who has possibly suffered a stroke. You find her lying supine in her bed. She is semiconscious; has vomited; and has slow, irregular breathing. You should:

manually open her airway and suction her oropharynx.

A nonrebreathing mask is MOST appropriate to use on patients who:

have an adequate rate and depth of breathing.

During the inhalation phase of breathing:

pressure within the thorax decreases and air is drawn into the lungs.

When ventilating an apneic patient, you note decreased ventilatory compliance. This means that:

the lungs are difficult to ventilate.

Which of the following would most likely cause a reduction in tidal volume?

Unequal chest expansion.

A 40-year-old man is conscious, but has an increased rate of breathing. You should

assess the regularity and quality of breathing.

In which position would you expect a patient with severe dyspnea to be found?

Fowlers

Sonorous respirations are MOST rapidly corrected by:

Manually positioning the head.

You receive a call for a 49-year-old woman who passed out. The patients husband tells you that they were watching TV when the incident occured. No trauma was involved. The patient is semiconscious and has cyanosis to her lips. After opening her airway with the head tilt-chin lift manuever, you should:

insert a nasopharyngeal airway.

Prior to applying a nonrebreathing mask on a patient with difficulty breathing and sings of hypoxemia, you should:

prefill the reservoir bag to ensure a high oxygen concentration.

A 33-year-old female presents with acute respiratory distress. She is conscious but anxious, and tells you that she has a history of asthma. She took two puffs of her albuterol inhaler prior to your arrival, but states that it did not help. Her oxygen saturation reads 89% and you hear diffuse wheezing while auscultating her lungs. You should:

administer high-flow oxygen, contact medical control to request permission to assist her with another albuterol treatment, and prepare for transport.

A 35-year-old patient complains of shortness of breath. He is conscious and alert and is able to speak in complete sentences, although with slight difficulty. Assessment reveals diffuse wheezing to auscultation, a respiratory rate of 24 breaths /min, a heart rate of 110 beats/ min, and an oxygen saturation of 96%. Which of the following interventions would be of most benefit to this patient?

Inhaled bronchodilator.