Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a paramedic? You need to be trained and read to give emergency medical care to patients who are seriously ill and to stabilize them before they reach a hospital. Basically, you are responsible for the life of a human being. A paramedic’s goal is to assist and aid a person who is in serious need of medical attention.
As a paramedic, you will care for the sick or injured in emergency medical settings. The life of the patient the paramedic is attending to depends on the quick reaction and competent care provided by these individuals. You will also be responsible for responding to emergency calls, performing medical services and transporting patients to medical facilities for further help. But before you do any of this, you need to be prepared. Becoming a paramedic typically involves completing a postsecondary educational program. In all 50 states, paramedics must be licensed. Keep in mind that requirements vary by state, so you may need further licenses or training. You will be educated on physiology, cardiology, pharmacology and respiratory interventions, to name a few. Do you think you know as much as a paramedic? Take a moment to complete this quiz and find out!
What does ECG stand for?
Exercise control group
Emergency coordination group
Electrical chemical group
Electrocardiogram
ECG stands for electrocardiogram. Sometimes it’s also abbreviated as EKG. A doctor might suggest you get an electrocardiogram to check for signs of heart disease.
You receive a call about a 25-year-old victim who has fallen down the stairs after accidentally tripping. What is the best way to open the victim’s airway?
Modified jaw thrust
Jaw thrust maneuver
For this case, you’ll use the jaw thrust maneuver technique. If there is a possible spinal injury, you might want to open the jaw without moving the head too much.
Early in the morning you are assigned to attend the scene of a shooting. Just as you arrive, you see a young girl, no more than 2 years old. As an EMT, what would be the right first action to take in this situation?
Park and call 911
Keep driving
Immediately pick up the girl and call 911
Asses for and identify any possible threats to your personal safety
You would identify any possible threats first. We all want to help someone in need right away, but in order to do so, you need to be safe (and alive).
You are working on treating someone with a “crushed” portion of their skull, with the bone depressed in toward the brain. What would your treatment be?
Use a bulky dressing to fill in the depressed section and secure it around the head.
Place a helmet on the patient’s head.
Backboard the patient.
Cover the impacted area with moist, sterile dressing.
You would cover the impacted area with moist, sterile dressing. It’s likely that the area is open and therefore susceptible to infection.
If a paramedic is treating a patient with decreased blood flow through arteries directly connected to the heart and uses the term “ACS,” what is he/she referring to?
Access control server
Abdominal compartment syndrome
Acute coronary syndrome
The paramedic is referring to acute coronary syndrome. This is a syndrome caused by decreased blood flow in the coronary arteries, affecting heart function.
You are treating a patient who has a blocked nasal airway (also called the nasopharyngeal airway), and you have to act quickly. Which shortened term would you use to refer to this part of the body?
You are treating a patient who has excessive accumulation of dark scar tissue expanding beyond the original borders of a wound. What is this known as?
Hypertrophic scar
Keloid
A keloid is a growth of excessive scar tissue over the site of a healed wound. Any injury that can cause a scar could result in the formation of a keloid.
A child is born with one or both nostrils blocked by bony tissue. What is this condition referred to as?
Newborn asphyxia
Esophageal atresia
Micrognathia
Choanal atresia
Choanal atresia is a condition in which a child is born with one or both nostrils blocked by bony tissue. If both nostrils are blocked, the baby may be unable to breath right after birth and may need to be resuscitated.
When you have just administered norepinephrine to a cardiac patient, you should expect all of the following reactions EXCEPT:
Increased heart rate
Vasoconstriction
Increased peripheral resistance
Decreased heart workload
Norepinephrine is helpful in that it can get the blood pressure up when treating a hypotensive patient. Therefore, you should expect all of the above reactions except a decrease in the heart’s workload.
Which of the following structures forms part of the upper airway?
Oropharynx
The oropharynx is part of the upper airway. This is the posterior part of the mouth, making it the only part listed above that forms part of the upper airway.
A 4-year-old has recently been diagnosed with strep throat. The child is in respiratory distress and says she cannot swallow properly. She has to sit upright to breathe comfortably and is drooling. What does the child most likely have?
Anaphylaxis
Epiglottitis
Laryngitis
The sitting position and drooling give it away. These are all signs of laryngitis.
If a patient's systolic blood pressure is below 100 millimeters of mercury (mmHg), they should not be given nitroglycerin. This situation is an example of what?
Untoward effect
Side effect
Overdose
Contraindication
A contraindication is a condition or situation that would make it unsafe to give a patient a certain treatment. In other words, it’s enough reason to not administer the medication.
Which of the following is not considered to be a traditional parenteral route of administering a medication?
Rectal
The rectum is not considered to be a traditional parenteral route of medication administration. Rectal administration is considered to be an enteral route, because the rectum belongs to the digestive tract.
You are performing a bone marrow aspiration on a patient. Suddenly, there is a decrease in resistance while inserting the needle into the bone, but you are unable to aspirate any bone marrow or blood with a syringe. What should you do next?
Administer mouth-to-mouth
Pull back on the needle and aspirate a second time
Flush the needle with saline and observe for infiltrate
If you can’t aspirate blood or bone marrow after a sudden decrease in resistance, this might not necessarily have anything to do with a needle misplacement; it's possible the needle. Therefore, you should flush the needle with saline and observe for infiltrate, or a buildup of foreign substance.
You are attending a patient who's gone into cardiac arrest and shows a pulseless third-degree heart block. Which of the following is NOT an appropriate treatment for this patient?
Epinephrine every 3 to 5 minutes
Continuous CPR
Treat the reversible causes.
Pace the patient's heart at a rate of 80 BPM.
There is no pulse. Therefore, there is nothing to pace. Use other measures to help the patient.