10 free EMT practice questions: Medication & Supply Inventory

Epinephrine auto-injectors expire sooner than other medications: Epinephrine auto-injectors don't expire sooner than other medications specifically: expiration is a general stocking concern, not the specific gap created by carrying only one strength.

The 0.3 mg strength may be given only by an advanced provider: The 0.3 mg strength isn't restricted to advanced providers: the concern here is about matching the dose to the patient's size, not about who's allowed to give it.

Two auto-injectors would be needed for every adult patient: Needing two auto-injectors for every adult patient isn't accurate: the 0.3 mg adult strength delivers the correct adult dose in a single device.

Delivery of low-flow oxygen to an adequately breathing patient: still covered by the nasal cannula that's on the unit. That capability isn't affected by the missing NRBs.

Measurement of the oxygen saturation of an adequately breathing patient: Measurement of oxygen saturation doesn't depend on oxygen delivery devices at all. That's a separate piece of equipment, a pulse oximeter, unrelated to what masks are stocked.

Ventilation of a patient whose breathing is inadequate: still covered by the BVMs on the unit, which is a completely different device from the NRBs that are missing.

Pediatric pads are unnecessary, because adult pads fit every patient: Saying pediatric pads are unnecessary because adult pads fit every patient ignores that pediatric pads with a dose attenuator are the preferred choice for a child under 8, even though adult pads can be used if nothing else is available.

The defibrillator may not be used on a child until pediatric pads arrive: Saying the defibrillator can't be used on a child until pediatric pads arrive is overly restrictive: adult pads may be used and can be lifesaving when pediatric equipment isn't available.

Pediatric pads are needed only for patients under 1 year of age: Saying pediatric pads are only needed for patients under 1 year of age understates the recommended age range, which extends to under 8 years.

Continue using them until they expire; replacement is not needed until after expiration: Using stock right up to its expiration date is exactly what you do when replacements are already in motion: the drug is fully potent until that date, and pulling it early just wastes it. What fails is the second half of the option, that replacement is not needed until after expiration. Waiting for the date to pass guarantees a window where the unit carries an expired auto-injector or none at all. The key beats it because it keeps using the current stock while starting the replacement now, so there is never a shift without in-date epinephrine.

Inspect them for visible changes and use them if they appear normal: Visual inspection is a real and required check. You look through the window for discoloration and particulate matter, and cloudy or brown epinephrine gets pulled regardless of its date. What inspection cannot do is verify potency, because a drug degrades chemically long before it changes appearance. The key beats it because dating and inspection are two independent checks, and this option uses one of them to override the other.

Discard them immediately and report the supply shortage to administration: Immediate removal is correct for a medication that is already expired, damaged, discolored, or recalled. That stock cannot stay on the unit another shift. These auto-injectors are in date for four more weeks and are the epinephrine this unit is carrying, so discarding them now creates the shortage rather than reporting one. The key beats it because it keeps a usable drug available while the replacement is arranged, and epinephrine is not a drug you can afford to be without.

Recap the bottle, add a desiccant packet, and return it to service with a note to monitor: Desiccant and a tight cap are the right approach to preventing this problem. That is exactly why the packet and the cotton are in the bottle to begin with. Prevention does not work retroactively: once the tablets have absorbed water and begun to hydrolyze, drying the air around them cannot reverse the chemistry or restore lost potency. Returning it to service with a note to monitor also leaves a questionable drug on the truck, where the next person to grab it will not stop to read the note.

Use the tablets for patients who refuse liquid medication; discard them if the patient declines: Matching the medication form to what a patient will accept is real clinical reasoning: chewable versus swallowed, oral versus sublingual. It has nothing to do with whether the product itself is safe to give. Degraded medication is off-limits for every patient regardless of preference, and discarding it if the patient declines concedes the whole point: if it is not good enough to keep, it was never good enough to administer.

Assume the discoloration is from normal storage and use the bottle until the expiration date passes: Expiration dating is the usual trigger for pulling stock, and checking dates belongs to the same rig check that caught this. The printed date assumes the drug was stored as intended: sealed, dry, within its temperature range, and this bottle was not. Degradation from moisture can outrun the date by a wide margin, so what you can see in the tablets outranks what is printed on the label.

Place the ambulance in service immediately with the expired epinephrine and replace it during the next scheduled equipment maintenance: Incorrect. Expired medications are not acceptable and cannot be deferred to later maintenance. They must be replaced immediately before any patient care is rendered.

Place the ambulance in service with expired epinephrine but notify dispatch that this unit cannot respond to anaphylaxis calls: Incorrect. Restricting certain response types does not solve the core problem: expired medications must not be carried on the ambulance at all.

Contact medical control to request permission to carry and administer expired epinephrine in life-threatening emergencies: Incorrect. Medical control would not authorize the use of expired medications. Medication expiration is a safety requirement, not a clinical decision that can be delegated or approved as an exception.

Strap the cylinder to the stretcher frame with the patient straps: This is the misconception that any strong strap will hold a cylinder. Securing a tank to the stretcher or bench is specifically excluded unless a commercially manufactured device designed for that purpose is used, and the question states no such device is on the unit. The patient straps are made to hold a patient on the stretcher, and the stretcher itself moves in and out of the ambulance.

Lay the cylinder on the floor behind the airway seat, out of the walkway: This is the misconception that low and out of the way is the same as secured. Keeping the cylinder out of the walkway addresses tripping, not the hazard that governs here: an unsecured tank becomes a projectile in a collision regardless of where in the compartment it started.

Stow the cylinder in the outside compartment with the extrication tools: This is the misconception that moving the cylinder outside the patient compartment removes the risk to the crew. The requirement to secure tanks by fixed clasps or housings applies regardless of where they are carried, and an unsecured cylinder among loose extrication tools is also exposed to damage to its valve-gauge assembly.

Place it in service, since the gauge reads full: This is the misconception that a full gauge is the whole readiness check for a cylinder. Pressure describes how much oxygen is inside; the collar stamp describes when the cylinder itself was last tested, and those are separate questions. A cylinder can read 2,000 psi and still be overdue for the test that establishes it is safe to hold that pressure.

Crack the valve to confirm it holds pressure: This is the misconception that a field pressure check substitutes for the periodic test. Cracking the valve is a step for clearing debris from the opening before the regulator is attached, and holding pressure for a few seconds on the station floor is not the test that the collar stamp records.

Keep it as the backup and use the newer one: This is the misconception that an overdue cylinder is acceptable as long as it is not the first one reached for. The backup cylinder is the one carried for the second patient or the long transport, so demoting it to backup does not take it out of use; it just delays the moment it is relied on.

Top off the sterile water and leave it in place: This is the misconception that the water is the consumable and the bottle is the equipment. Humidification equipment is disposable and is used on one patient only; refilling it keeps the same used bottle in the oxygen path for the next patient, which is the transmission route the single-patient rule exists to close.

Empty and air-dry the bottle before the next patient: This is the misconception that drying a disposable item makes it reusable. Emptying and air-drying is a reasonable instinct drawn from reusable equipment, but a single-use humidifier is not returned to service by any cleaning step short of replacement, and the question states it has already been used on a patient.

Keep the bottle for the next transport over 1 hour: This is the misconception that reuse is acceptable so long as the next run also meets the threshold that justified humidification. The 1-hour figure decides whether a humidifier is used at all, not how many patients one bottle may serve; a second long transport is a second patient.

There is no concern, since one size fits all adult patients: Saying there's no concern because one size fits all adult patients is incorrect: patients vary in neck size and a single collar size can't properly fit every one of them.

Cervical collars are not required equipment on an ambulance: Saying cervical collars aren't required equipment misstates their role. They're a standard part of spinal motion restriction equipment that should be available in appropriate sizes.

The concern only applies if a pediatric patient is anticipated: Saying the concern only applies if a pediatric patient is anticipated understates the problem, even among adult patients, a single collar size can't fit the full range of neck sizes encountered.