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10 free AEMT practice questions: Multiple Casualty Incidents, Triage, and Incident Command

These are real questions from the same bank the app draws from. Each one is written to the NREMT AEMT content specifications and kept inside the AEMT scope of practice. Pick an answer and you get the full rationale, including why the other three options are wrong.

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Question 1 of 10

An AEMT responds to a motorcycle collision on a rural two-lane road at dusk. A 34-year-old patient is lying on the shoulder, is alert, and reports pain in a deformed lower leg. There is no bleeding. A second helmet is lying in the grass about 30 feet from the motorcycle. What should the AEMT do next?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Search the area around the scene for another patient

Determining how many patients are on a scene is part of the scene size-up and has to be settled before the crew commits itself to one patient. A second helmet at a motorcycle collision is direct evidence that someone else was on the machine, and a passenger thrown clear may be out of sight in grass or a ditch. The patient already found is alert with an isolated extremity injury and no bleeding, so nothing is lost by accounting for the scene first, and the patient count is what determines how many ambulances and crews are needed.

Why the others are wrong

Begin splinting the deformed lower leg: Beginning splinting the deformed lower leg commits to treating the found patient before the scene size-up is complete, determining the number of patients has to be settled first, since a second patient could be down and unaccounted for.

Ask the patient how fast the motorcycle was traveling: Asking the patient how fast the motorcycle was traveling gathers useful history but doesn't address the more urgent size-up task of confirming how many patients are actually on scene.

Move the patient to the ambulance for assessment: Moving the patient to the ambulance for assessment commits resources to one patient before the crew has confirmed whether a second passenger, evidenced by the extra helmet, needs to be found first.

Question 2 of 10

An AEMT is performing initial triage with the JumpSTART system after a deck collapse at a community park. A 4-year-old patient is not breathing. A distal pulse is palpable. The AEMT opens the airway with a manual maneuver, and the patient still does not breathe. What should the AEMT do?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Give five rescue breaths and reassess breathing

Pediatric triage diverges from adult triage at exactly this point, and it does so for a physiologic reason: children arrest from respiratory causes far more often than from cardiac ones, so a child who is apneic but still has a pulse is often minutes away from recovering with nothing more than ventilation. JumpSTART builds that in: an apneic pediatric patient with a palpable pulse gets the airway opened and then five rescue breaths. If breathing resumes, the patient is immediate; only if the patient is still apneic after those five breaths is the expectant tag assigned. The intervention is capped at five breaths so the AEMT can make a decision and keep moving.

Why the others are wrong

Begin chest compressions and reassess the pulse: Beginning chest compressions isn't indicated. This child has a palpable distal pulse, which rules out the need for compressions at this point.

Tag the patient expectant and move on: Tagging the patient expectant and moving on skips the five rescue breaths JumpSTART specifically calls for in an apneic pediatric patient who still has a pulse.

Ventilate the patient until breathing returns: Ventilating until breathing returns doesn't match the JumpSTART protocol, which caps the intervention at five breaths so the AEMT can make a decision and keep moving through the scene.

Question 3 of 10

An AEMT is performing triage after a stage collapse at an outdoor concert. No patient is pinned, and additional ambulances are arriving. A large crowd is pressing in around the patients, and bystanders are picking up injured people and carrying them away before they can be triaged. Which resource should the AEMT request?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Law enforcement for crowd control

Triage only works if the patients stay where the sort can reach them, so a crowd that is moving patients is destroying the count as fast as the AEMT builds it. Patients carried off unsorted may be the ones who needed care first, and they are no longer accounted for anywhere. Crowd control is a law enforcement function, and requesting it is the resource decision that protects the triage process itself. The request goes out as soon as the problem is recognized, not after the sort has already been lost.

Why the others are wrong

The fire department for scene lighting: doesn't address the actual problem, which is a crowd interfering with the triage process itself, not a lack of visibility.

A rescue crew to secure the stage structure: isn't relevant here: no patient is described as pinned, and the stage structure isn't what's disrupting the triage process.

A supervisor to coordinate transport: doesn't solve the immediate problem of bystanders moving patients before they can be triaged. That's specifically a crowd control task, which belongs to law enforcement.

Question 4 of 10

An AEMT is performing initial triage with the JumpSTART system at an elementary school where a ceiling section fell during class. A 7-year-old patient cannot walk. The respirations are 30, no peripheral pulse can be felt at the wrist, and the patient answers questions and follows commands. Which triage category should the AEMT assign?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Immediate (red)

The sort steps through breathing, then perfusion, then neurologic status, and it stops at the first abnormal finding. Respirations of 30 sit inside the acceptable pediatric window, so the sort moves on to perfusion, and an absent peripheral pulse ends it there. A child compensates for blood loss by clamping down peripherally while staying awake and conversational, so a normal mental status is the last thing to fail and cannot be used to downgrade the category. Answering questions clearly is reassuring to look at and worth nothing in this sort once perfusion has already failed.

Why the others are wrong

Minor (green): doesn't fit a patient who can't walk and has already failed the perfusion check with an absent peripheral pulse.

Delayed (yellow): would apply if this patient passed the perfusion check, but an absent pulse ends the sort at immediate instead.

Expectant (black): reserved for injuries incompatible with life given available resources. Nothing here suggests this patient's condition is unsurvivable, just that they need to be prioritized as immediate.

Question 5 of 10

The AEMT responds to a motor-vehicle collision on a steep hillside where one vehicle has left the road and is perched on the edge of a 40-foot ravine, partially off the embankment. The patient appears conscious and alert but is unable to safely exit the vehicle. What is the AEMT's best course of action?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Request technical rescue/rope rescue team, establish scene safety, and stage at a safe location uphill

A vehicle perched on the edge of a 40-foot ravine is a technical rescue scenario: the vehicle has to be stabilized against the slope before anyone approaches it, and the patient has to be extricated and moved uphill on a system rated for the load. AEMTs do not rappel, operate winches, or run high-angle rescues, so the correct sequence is to request the technical rescue or rope rescue resource, establish scene safety, stage uphill at a stable location, and work under the rescue team's direction once they arrive. Improvised rescue on unstable ground risks dropping the vehicle onto the patient and creating a second victim, and the second victim is you. That the patient is conscious and alert is the detail buying you the time to do this correctly rather than quickly.

Why the others are wrong

Rappel down to the vehicle using climbing gear from the ambulance to reach the patient: Rappelling is the right tool for a rope rescue technician working with rated rope, anchors, a belay, and a plan, a real discipline with real training hours behind it. An ambulance does not carry rated rope rescue equipment and an AEMT is not credentialed to use it, and the question's specific detail matters: adding an unsecured person to a slope above a vehicle that is already partially off the embankment changes the loads on an unstable object. The rescue team brings the gear and the vehicle stabilization together, which is why waiting beats improvising.

Use the ambulance winch to pull the vehicle back onto the road while the patient remains inside: Winching is a legitimate recovery operation, performed by a tow operator on a vehicle with no patient inside after the scene has been cleared. Ambulances do not carry winches, and pulling on a vehicle that is partway off an embankment applies exactly the force that sends it over the edge, with the patient still belted inside. Recovering the vehicle is a separate job from rescuing the patient, and it happens after, not during.

Coach the patient to carefully exit the vehicle and climb back up the hillside while you stabilize with hand holds: Coaching a patient out is often the least harmful option when the vehicle is stable, the ground is stable, and the patient can move under their own power. The question forecloses it twice over: the patient is described as unable to safely exit, and the ground is a steep hillside above a 40-foot drop. An injured patient climbing an embankment can fall, and stabilizing them with hand holds puts you on the same unstable slope with no anchor and no way to arrest either of you.

Question 6 of 10

An AEMT responds to a call at a residential address and finds a 32-year-old patient sitting in the front yard with a laceration to the forehead. The patient states, 'I fell,' but the injury pattern suggests blunt force trauma. Shouting and the sound of breaking glass are coming from inside the house. What is the AEMT's immediate priority?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Stage at a safe distance, notify dispatch of the scene hazard, and request police to secure the scene before providing care

Scene size-up identified multiple indicators of domestic violence: injury inconsistent with stated cause, and active violence occurring inside the home. AEMT safety is the priority. The correct action is to stage at a safe distance, immediately notify dispatch of the scene hazard, and request police to secure the scene before the AEMT approaches or provides care. Patient care begins only after responders confirm the scene is safe.

Why the others are wrong

Enter the house to assess the full scene and determine if other patients require assistance: Incorrect. Entering a house with active violence endangers the AEMT and may escalate the situation or trap the responder inside.

Quickly assess and transport the patient to the hospital before the situation inside escalates further: Incorrect. Transporting the patient while violence continues inside abandons any other potential victims and exposes both patient and AEMT to ongoing danger during transport.

Provide full assessment and treatment from inside the ambulance while monitoring the house until police arrive: Incorrect. Remaining on scene while active violence continues inside the house is not safe for the AEMT or the patient. Police must secure the scene and confirm safety before patient care begins.

Question 7 of 10

An AEMT is the first provider to arrive at a warehouse floor collapse involving about 20 patients. No other EMS personnel are on scene, additional units are 8 minutes away, the remaining floor structure is unstable, and the ambulance is parked in the only clear driveway. The AEMT calls out for anyone who is able to walk. Where should the AEMT direct these patients to gather?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · To an easily identified landmark away from the ambulance

The first step of the START triage system is to call out to everyone who can hear and is able to walk and to direct them to an easily identified landmark. Those who walk to it are the walking wounded and are assigned the minimal category. The landmark is chosen away from the ambulance on purpose: drawing a large group of patients toward the ambulance blocks the crew and hinders the AEMT's ability to move through the patients who did not walk and triage them.

Why the others are wrong

To the ambulance, where a running count can be kept: A student picks this thinking the ambulance is the natural rally point and that gathering patients there makes counting easier. Bringing a large group toward the ambulance is the specific error the landmark step is written to prevent, because it obstructs the crew and delays triage of the nonambulatory patients.

To the treatment area once it has been established: This assumes a treatment area already exists. No other EMS personnel are on scene, so no treatment area has been set up, and the ambulatory group still has to be moved clear before the nonambulatory patients can be assessed.

To the nearest exit from the collapsed floor section: A student picks this because an exit is the fastest way out of an unstable structure. An exit is a passage rather than a designated gathering point, and holding a group of patients in it blocks the route the crews and the remaining patients need; the collection point is a landmark clear of both the unstable structure and the ambulance.

Question 8 of 10

A tornado strikes a campground, and patients are found in two groups about a half mile apart with a downed tree line between them. The AEMT is the triage supervisor and has four responders available. Both groups contain patients who cannot walk. What should the AEMT do?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Establish a separate triage area and team for each group

The triage division's duty is to ensure that every patient receives an initial assessment, and treatment does not begin until triage is complete. Some incidents require multiple triage areas or teams because the victims are located far apart. With two groups a half mile apart, a downed tree line between them, and four responders available, splitting into two triage teams with a triage area at each group is what gets every patient assessed rather than leaving one group waiting for the other.

Why the others are wrong

Triage the larger group first, then move the team to the second: Sequential triage of one group at a time feels orderly and keeps the team together. It leaves every patient in the second group unassessed, including the ones who cannot walk, for as long as the first group takes.

Consolidate the two groups into one area before triage: Consolidating the scene looks like it simplifies management and the count. Moving patients is not part of primary triage, and each patient who cannot walk would need carriers before any of them were assessed.

Count the patients in each group before beginning triage: A student picks this because command asks for a patient count first. A raw head count does not tell command how many patients fall into each category, which is the number that drives the resource request.

Question 9 of 10

During primary triage after an apartment fire, the AEMT reaches a patient who did not walk to the collection area because of pain from partial-thickness burns to one lower leg. There is no soot around the mouth or nose, the voice is clear, and the breathing is unlabored. The patient has R 20, a palpable radial pulse, and follows simple commands. What should the AEMT do?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Tag the patient delayed and move to the next patient

The patient did not walk, so the minimal category is out and the remaining START triage checks apply: respirations of 20 fall inside the range that moves the assessment forward, a radial pulse is present, and simple commands are followed, which places the patient in the delayed category. Burns move a patient to immediate when the airway is compromised or the burns are severe. The absence of soot around the mouth and nose, a clear voice, and unlabored breathing rule out airway involvement here, and the burn is confined to one lower leg, which is far too small an area to meet the severe-burn criterion. Burns without airway compromise are a delayed-category finding. The AEMT tags the patient and keeps moving, because treatment does not begin until every patient has been triaged.

Why the others are wrong

Tag the patient immediate and move to the next patient: A student picks this because burns look dramatic and the patient cannot walk. Immediate is reserved for airway or breathing compromise, uncontrolled bleeding, signs of shock, severe burns, or open chest or abdominal injury. A partial-thickness burn confined to one lower leg is not a severe burn by extent, and the question rules out each of the other immediate criteria.

Direct the patient to the collection area for minimal patients: The minimal category is for the walking wounded, and sending this patient to the collection area treats the burns as trivial. The patient did not walk to that area, so the first branch of the algorithm never places the patient there.

Give positive pressure ventilations and tag the patient immediate: This treats any burn from a structure fire as an inhalation injury. There is no soot around the mouth or nose, the voice is clear, and the breathing is unlabored, so the airway is not involved, and ventilating one patient stops primary triage for everyone else.

Question 10 of 10

Lightning strikes a soccer field during a game. Three patients are dazed, are walking, and answer questions appropriately. A fourth patient is unresponsive, is not breathing, and has no pulse. Two AEMTs and one ambulance are on scene, and a second ambulance is 6 minutes away. What should the AEMTs do?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Begin resuscitation of the patient who is not breathing

Multiple victims of a lightning strike are handled by the reverse triage method. Under ordinary triage a patient who is apneic and pulseless is tagged expectant so that limited resources go to salvageable patients. After a lightning strike the arrest is typically a primary cardiac or respiratory arrest in a person who is otherwise uninjured, and those patients are treated first. The three remaining patients are walking and answering questions appropriately, so they can wait while both AEMTs resuscitate the fourth.

Why the others are wrong

Tag the pulseless patient expectant and triage the others: This is the standard triage answer and the one most candidates give, because apneic and pulseless normally means expectant. A lightning strike is the named exception in which the arrest victims are treated first instead.

Transport the three walking patients to the hospital first: Moving the stable patients out first looks like the greatest good for the greatest number. It spends the only ambulance on three patients who are alert and answering questions while the one patient who can still be saved receives nothing.

Complete triage of the four patients before any treatment: Finishing triage before any treatment is the normal rule at a mass-casualty incident. With four patients, two AEMTs, and three of them walking and talking, the sorting is effectively done and the reverse-triage exception is what governs the next action.

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