10 free AEMT practice questions: AEMT Scope of Practice and Medical Direction

Omit them, since the report records abnormal findings: Keeping a narrative short is real advice, and normal findings can look like filler. Leaving them out throws away the only proof that you assessed for them. A reviewer asks about that proof first.

Record them only if the receiving physician asks for them: You do not write documentation on request. The receiving physician may never ask. The report still has to stand on its own as the record of what you did, years after the call.

Omit them from the narrative and mark the checkboxes only: Marking checkboxes only treats the narrative as a place for abnormal findings. A pertinent negative belongs where the assessment is described. The pertinent negative is there to show that the assessment happened.

Give the name, since the hospital is the one requesting it: A request from the hospital sounds like permission, and it is not. Keeping the name off the air protects the patient from everyone else who can hear the transmission. Who is asking does not change what belongs on the air.

Give the name, since a radio report is part of treatment: A radio report to the hospital really is part of treatment, and treatment does not need the patient's authorization. The treatment exception settles whether you may share the information at all. Which channel you use is a separate question, and names stay off the radio.

Give the name after confirming the channel is not public: A private channel sounds like a fix for eavesdropping. A field crew has no way to confirm who is listening on a frequency. Keep names off the air on every channel.

Report it to the supervisor before flushing the eye: Reporting the exposure is required, and you report it right away. You flush first and report second. The first minutes after the splash are when flushing still washes the blood out. A phone call uses up those minutes.

Rinse the eye briefly and finish the transport: A quick rinse can feel like enough once the eye stops stinging. How the eye feels does not tell you the eye is clean. The 20 minute standard is there because time under the water decides how much blood comes out. Finishing the transport first also delays your evaluation, and the evaluation has its own time limit.

Wait for the source patient's laboratory results: Waiting on the source patient's lab results sounds careful, and it uses up the time that matters. Preventive medication works best when it starts within hours. Get evaluated promptly, not after someone else's lab work comes back.

Contact online medical direction for authorization first: Online medical direction is for when you need a real-time order before you can act. This patient meets every criterion on the standing order, so the order is already in hand. Calling first only delays the epinephrine.

Give epinephrine by slow intravenous push: At the AEMT level, intravenous epinephrine belongs to cardiac arrest. Pushing epinephrine into a vein to raise the blood pressure of a patient with a pulse is paramedic scope. This patient has a pulse, and the standing order names the intramuscular route.

Start an isotonic crystalloid bolus and reassess: An isotonic crystalloid bolus is for low blood pressure that is still there after intramuscular epinephrine and airway care. Starting with fluid delays the drug that treats the reaction itself.

Repeat the order back and then intubate the patient: Repeating an order back is a good habit. Read-back is how you catch a misheard drug or dose. Getting the words right does not change what your certification allows. An out-of-scope order repeated back correctly is still out of scope.

Intubate while the physician stays on the radio: Having the physician listen in feels like a middle ground between doing the intubation and refusing a physician outright. Supervision over the radio does not move a skill into your scope. Intubation is still outside AEMT scope with the physician listening.

Intubate and document that a physician ordered it: Documenting who gave the order feels like it moves the responsibility to the physician. The chart only shows that the intubation happened. You are still the provider who did the intubation.

It transfers unchanged with the AEMT's certification: Your National Registry certification does go with you when you move. Certification is not a license. Certification gives you no legal right to perform any skill. The new state's license and the new medical director decide what you can do.

It is set nationally by NHTSA and is the same everywhere: The National EMS Scope of Practice Model is published by NHTSA. The model describes what an AEMT is educated and nationally certified to do. The model is not a law, and NHTSA does not license anyone. Your legal authority comes from the state license and the medical director's protocols.

It is defined by the National Registry certification held: National Registry certification proves you met a national standard of knowledge and skill. Certification gives you no right to practice anywhere. Only the state license and the medical director's protocols set what you can do in the new state.

Edit the original narrative to include the dose given: Editing the narrative is the right fix before you submit the report, while the report is still a working document. After you submit it, editing the original removes any way to show what was known at handoff and what was added later. A quiet change to a submitted legal document is hard to tell apart from falsifying it. The addendum makes the same correction and keeps that history visible.

Notify the receiving nurse, and take no further step: Telling the receiving nurse is a step you should take. The care team needs to know naloxone was given, and a phone call gets that to them faster than paperwork. A phone call is not part of the chart. Anyone reviewing the case next week will not see the dose. The addendum is what makes the correction permanent.

Record the dose only on the unit restock form: The restock form tracks medication inventory, and for controlled substances it tracks the chain of custody. The restock form is not the patient's medical record, and no one treating this patient will ever read it. The dose has to go in the report the hospital and later reviewers actually use.

Only the successful attempt, unless a complication occurred: Complications do have to be documented, so part of option A is right. A missed IV still has to be charted even when nothing went wrong. A missed stick with no complication still left a puncture in the patient. The fact that nothing went wrong belongs in the chart too. Charting a procedure only when it goes wrong leaves out procedures that really happened.

Only the successful attempt and the site used: The site and gauge are a complete entry for the line that worked. If the question described only one attempt, option B would be right. This question says there were two attempts. Leaving out the missed one leaves out a procedure done to the patient.

Only the total volume of fluid that was given: The total volume of fluid is what the hospital wants to hear in a short radio report. This question asks about documenting the IV access. The volume alone does not say where the line is or what gauge the catheter is. The volume also does not say what was done to the patient to get the line.

Move the stretcher out of the residence with the crew: Taking the patient out with the crew is right when the scene itself is the danger. Examples are a fire or a structural hazard, with no person threatening you. Here moving the patient is too slow. Rolling a loaded stretcher with an IV line through a house keeps the crew in the room with an armed person much longer. Leaving right away is what lets you come back for this patient.

Continue care, and ask the family member to step outside: Asking an upset family member to step outside works when the person is unarmed and care can safely continue. This family member has made threats and picked up a knife. A request will not change anything at this point. The family member holding the knife decides whether to step outside, not you. Continuing care also keeps you in the room with an armed person.

Speak calmly to the family member to de-escalate the threat: Talking calmly to de-escalate is a real skill, and it works earlier, before a weapon comes out. Once the knife is in hand, de-escalation is no longer an EMS job. Get out of reach, and let people trained and equipped for an armed person handle the threat.

Load the patient, and open the rear doors during transport: Opening the rear doors lets some air move through the patient compartment. Moving the air around does not decontaminate anyone. The patient, the linen, and every surface the patient touches stay contaminated for the rest of the shift.

Load the patient after covering the stretcher with a sheet: Covering the stretcher with a sheet does protect the stretcher. The patient is still covered in an unidentified powder. Inside a closed compartment, the crew breathes the same air, and their own skin and airway are exposed.

Start an intravenous line, and treat the burning of the eyes: An IV line is real care, and it waits until decontamination is complete. Putting a needle through contaminated skin pushes the contaminant past the body's own barrier. Starting the line now also happens before the exposure has been stopped. For the burning eyes, the treatment is getting the powder off, not adding care on top of it.