Respiratory Emergencies EMT Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. After blunt chest trauma, a patient has severe dyspnea, hypotension, distended neck veins, and absent breath sounds on the left. Which condition is most concerning?
Acute bronchitis
Tension pneumothorax
Hyperventilation syndrome
Uncomplicated asthma
2. A patient with severe asthma was wheezing loudly but now has very little air movement, a quieter chest, and increasing drowsiness. What should the EMT suspect?
Successful resolution because the wheezing has stopped
Worsening obstruction with impending respiratory failure
An isolated upper-airway obstruction
Stable mild bronchospasm that needs only observation
3. Minutes after eating peanuts, a patient develops hives, wheezing, throat tightness, and hypotension. Which treatment most directly addresses the life-threatening cause, when provided according to protocol?
An oral antihistamine alone
A bronchodilator alone
Epinephrine
Aspirin
4. Which assessment pattern is most consistent with lower-airway bronchospasm during an asthma exacerbation?
Inspiratory stridor with drooling
Unilateral absent breath sounds after chest trauma
Prolonged exhalation with diffuse wheezing
Fine crackles heard mainly at the lung bases
5. A patient’s waveform capnography shows a steadily rising end-tidal carbon dioxide level while respirations become slower and shallower. What does this trend most strongly suggest?
Improving ventilation and faster carbon dioxide removal
Worsening hypoventilation and reduced carbon dioxide elimination
A direct measurement of rising blood oxygen saturation
Definitive proof of a pulmonary embolism
6. Which sound most strongly suggests narrowing or obstruction in the upper airway?
Stridor
Fine crackles
Diffuse expiratory wheezing
Pleural friction rub
7. An adult is cyanotic and responds only to pain. Breathing is shallow and irregular at about six breaths per minute. What is the most appropriate immediate respiratory intervention?
Apply a nasal cannula and reassess after several minutes
Apply CPAP without assisting ventilation
Coach the patient to take slow, deep breaths
Maintain the airway and provide positive-pressure ventilation with a bag-mask device and oxygen
8. A young child with respiratory distress initially had rapid breathing and strong retractions. The child now has slower, shallow respirations and reduced alertness. What does this change most likely indicate?
Fatigue and progression toward respiratory failure
Improved oxygenation without treatment
Normal calming after exertion
A less urgent condition because the respiratory rate decreased
9. A patient develops sudden shortness of breath and sharp chest pain after several days of limited mobility following surgery. Breath sounds are clear and equal. Which condition should remain high on the differential?
Croup
Spontaneously resolved asthma
Foreign-body upper-airway obstruction
Pulmonary embolism
10. Which finding best distinguishes respiratory failure from compensated respiratory distress?
The patient reports feeling short of breath
The respiratory rate is faster than the patient’s usual rate
The patient prefers to sit upright
The patient can no longer maintain adequate oxygenation or ventilation, with findings such as exhaustion or declining mental status
11. A patient with suspected opioid poisoning is unresponsive, has a pulse, and is breathing inadequately. What should take priority while naloxone is being prepared or administered according to protocol?
Waiting to see whether spontaneous breathing improves
Placing the patient upright and asking for deep breaths
Giving oral fluids to stimulate consciousness
Opening the airway and providing effective assisted ventilation
12. An EMT finds a patient with COPD who is confused, cyanotic, and in marked respiratory distress. Which principle should guide oxygen administration?
Avoid oxygen because every patient with COPD depends on low oxygen levels to breathe
Delay oxygen until the exact cause of the distress is confirmed
Treat clinically significant hypoxia and titrate oxygen according to the patient’s condition and local protocol rather than withholding it solely because of COPD
Give only room air unless the patient becomes unresponsive
13. An unresponsive patient has vomit and gurgling secretions in the mouth, a pulse, and inadequate breathing. What is the immediate airway sequence?
Clear the airway with appropriate suction, then assist ventilation
Insert an oral airway through the vomit and wait for spontaneous improvement
Apply a nonrebreather mask without removing the secretions
Apply CPAP before clearing the airway
14. Which patient is the best general candidate for CPAP, assuming local protocol permits it?
An apneic patient who requires bag-mask ventilation
An alert, cooperative patient with suspected pulmonary edema who is breathing spontaneously
A patient who is actively vomiting and cannot protect the airway
A profoundly hypotensive patient with declining mental status
15. A conscious patient in severe respiratory distress is sitting upright and leaning forward. No immediate airway procedure requires repositioning. What should the EMT generally do?
Force the patient to lie flat for transport
Make the patient walk to determine exercise tolerance
Support the position that best facilitates the patient’s breathing while continuing assessment and treatment
Place the patient head-down to improve lung expansion
16. A patient with suspected opioid poisoning has an SpO2 reading of 98% but is breathing very slowly and shallowly. What is the best interpretation?
A normal saturation does not rule out inadequate ventilation, especially when supplemental oxygen may preserve the reading
The reading rules out an immediate respiratory problem
The normal reading confirms that ventilation is adequate
Pulse oximetry directly measures how effectively carbon dioxide is being removed