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Free NREMT practice questionsFree EMT practice questions · Scene Size-up and Safety

10 free EMT practice questions: Patient Count & Triage (MCI)

These are real questions from the same bank the app draws from. Each one is written to the NREMT EMT content specifications and kept inside the EMT 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 EMT is performing initial triage with the START system after a floor section collapsed at a warehouse. A 45-year-old patient cannot walk. The respirations are 20/min and a strong radial pulse is present, but the patient does not follow simple commands and only moans when spoken to. Which triage category should the EMT assign?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Immediate (red)

START sorts on three findings: respirations, perfusion, and mental status, and any one abnormal finding is enough to make a patient immediate. Two of the three are reassuring here, which is exactly the trap: a normal respiratory rate and a strong radial pulse do not outvote the third finding. A patient who cannot follow a simple command has a brain that is not being perfused or is injured, and that patient needs care before the sort moves on. The sort is a screen for the worst finding, not an average of the three.

Why the others are wrong

Delayed (yellow): would apply if this patient passed all three START checks, but failing to follow a command or answer appropriately on the mental status check moves this patient to immediate.

Minor (green): for the walking wounded. This patient cannot walk and has already failed a check beyond just mobility.

Expectant (black): reserved for injuries incompatible with life given available resources, not for a patient who simply needs to be prioritized as immediate.

Question 2 of 10

An EMT arrives at a multiple-patient incident where first responders have already tagged every patient. The EMT is assigned to the treatment area, and patients begin arriving from the triage area. What should the EMT do as each patient arrives?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Reassess each patient and confirm the category

Initial triage is a rapid sort done in seconds, on a patient whose condition is still changing, so the tag records a moment rather than a diagnosis. Patients deteriorate and improve between the sort and the treatment area, which is why every patient is reassessed on arrival and the category confirmed or changed. This second look is what catches the delayed patient who is now immediate, and it costs little because it happens where care is already being given. Treating the first tag as final is how a deteriorating patient is transported last.

Why the others are wrong

Transport patients in the order they were tagged: Transporting in the order patients were tagged assumes the initial tag still reflects current condition, but a rapid sort done in seconds doesn't account for how a patient's status may have changed since then.

Move patients to the ambulances by tag color: Moving patients by tag color alone repeats the same problem. It treats the initial category as final rather than confirming it's still accurate.

Keep the categories assigned during initial triage: Keeping the categories assigned during initial triage without rechecking misses patients who have deteriorated or improved since that rapid first sort.

Question 3 of 10

An EMT crew is the first unit to arrive at a collision involving a shuttle bus with eight injured occupants. The next ambulance is 10 minutes away. While moving through the occupants, the EMT finds a patient with severe difficulty breathing and tags the patient immediate. Three occupants have not been triaged. What should the EMT do?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Continue triaging the remaining occupants

The first crew on a multiple-patient scene is the only crew that knows how many patients there are and how sick each one is, and that information is worth more to the incident than any single intervention the crew could perform. Stopping the sort for one patient means the three untriaged occupants stay unknown, and one of them may be sicker than the patient in front of the EMT. Initial triage is finished first; treatment and transport are assigned afterward, when the whole picture exists. The pull toward the patient who looks worst is exactly what the discipline of triage exists to resist.

Why the others are wrong

Load the immediate patient into the ambulance: Loading the immediate patient before the other three are even triaged means the crew has no idea whether one of the untriaged occupants is even sicker.

Transport the immediate patient to the hospital: Transporting this one patient abandons the other three occupants who haven't been assessed at all, on a scene where the first crew is the only one who knows how many patients there are.

Begin treating the immediate patient's breathing: Beginning treatment on the difficulty-breathing patient stops the sort entirely: treatment is assigned after initial triage is complete, not interspersed with it.

Question 4 of 10

At a warehouse fire, the EMT performs START triage on a patient who is unable to walk due to severe leg injuries. The patient is alert and oriented to person, place, and time. Their respiratory rate is 32 breaths per minute with spontaneous breathing, skin is warm and dry, and radial pulse is strong at 92 beats per minute. What is the correct START triage category for this patient?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Red (immediate)

In START triage, the respiratory rate is the first vital sign assessed in patients unable to walk. Any respiratory rate greater than 30 breaths per minute indicates Red (immediate) triage status. This patient's RR of 32, combined with severe leg injuries, suggests pain, possible inhalation injury, or early compensation for fluid loss or internal hemorrhage. Even though the patient is alert, oriented, and has adequate perfusion (strong pulse at 92 and warm, dry skin), tachypnea at this level is the critical finding requiring Red categorization.

Why the others are wrong

Green (minor injuries): Incorrect. Green triage is reserved for ambulatory patients with minor injuries; this patient has significant injuries and tachypnea.

Yellow (delayed): Incorrect. Yellow is used for patients with normal vital signs but who cannot walk or are injured (like ssu-029); this patient's RR exceeds 30.

Black (expectant): Incorrect. Black (expectant) is used for patients with no spontaneous breathing who do not resume breathing after airway opening, or catastrophic injuries incompatible with survival.

Question 5 of 10

The EMT is the first unit at a warehouse fire with multiple patients. A quick scene scan identifies several patients. One patient with a superficial burn on the arm walks toward the EMT, stating they are able to move around independently. Before performing detailed vital sign assessment, what is the appropriate START triage category for this ambulatory patient?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Green: the patient can walk independently and is triaged as a minor injury

In START triage, the ability to ambulate independently is the FIRST test applied to any patient. If a patient can walk unassisted to the triage area, they are triaged as Green (minor injuries) and directed to the casualty collection area for self-care, regardless of visible injuries. This preserves resources for more critically injured patients.

Why the others are wrong

Red: all burn injuries require immediate assessment and transport: Incorrect. Not all burn injuries are Red; the triage category is determined by the START assessment sequence, beginning with the ambulation test.

Yellow: all burn patients must be triaged as Yellow until vitals confirm stability: Incorrect. Yellow is assigned to patients who cannot walk but have compensated vital signs; a walking patient is Green by definition.

Black: any patient with a burn injury is classified as nonviable: Incorrect. Black is for deceased or nonsalvageable patients; a walking, talking patient with a burn is not immediately nonviable.

Question 6 of 10

A chlorine release at a water treatment plant produces 12 patients. The hazmat team has established control zones, and a decontamination corridor is operating in the warm zone. The EMT is assigned to triage in the cold zone. Several patients walk out of the plant on their own; their clothing is wet, and they have not passed through the decontamination corridor. What should the EMT do?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Direct the patients into the decontamination corridor before triage

At a hazardous materials incident the hazmat team must identify patients as contaminated or decontaminated before the regular triage process, and patients are decontaminated before they are taken into a treatment area. Contamination carried into a triage area, a treatment area, or a hospital can shut down the systems the entire response depends on. The EMT working in the cold zone therefore directs these still-wet, ambulatory patients into the decontamination corridor and triages them after they come through clean.

Why the others are wrong

Triage the patients where they stand and tag them for later: A student picks this because triage feels like the first thing that happens to any patient found at a mass-casualty incident. Triaging patients who are still wet with the chemical exposes the EMT, contaminates the tag, and defeats the zone control the hazmat team has already set up.

Triage the patients as minimal and send them for transport: Walking out of the plant makes these patients look like the walking wounded, so the minimal category seems automatic. Ambulatory status does not clear a patient for the transportation area, and moving contaminated patients toward the ambulances spreads the contamination into a clean area.

Walk the patients into the treatment area and triage them: This gets patients to care quickly, which is the right instinct on an ordinary call. It carries the chemical into the treatment area, and patients are decontaminated before they are taken to a treatment area, not after.

Question 7 of 10

An EMT is performing primary triage with the JumpSTART system after a roof collapse at a gymnasium. A 7-year-old patient who appears to weigh about 50 pounds did not walk to the collection area and is not breathing. A distal pulse is palpable. The EMT opens the airway with a manual maneuver and then gives five rescue breaths. The patient still does not breathe. What should the EMT do?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Tag the patient expectant and continue triaging the others

JumpSTART is used for children younger than 8 years or who appear to weigh less than 100 pounds, and this patient meets both. In JumpSTART a child who is not breathing but has a pulse gets the airway opened and then one trial of five rescue breaths, because respiratory arrest is the usual path to cardiac arrest in children and a brief ventilation trial can restore breathing. That trial is the end of the branch: a child who still does not breathe after it is tagged expectant, a pulse notwithstanding, and the EMT moves on to the remaining patients.

Why the others are wrong

Tag the patient immediate and move to the next patient: A student picks this because a pulse is present, so the patient is alive and obviously critical, and immediate looks like the safe tag. In JumpSTART the immediate tag belongs to the child who starts breathing after the rescue breaths; the child who does not is expectant.

Give five more rescue breaths and reassess for breathing: Repeating the trial follows the reasoning behind the rescue-breath step and feels safer than stopping. The algorithm allows one trial of five breaths, and repeating it holds primary triage on a single patient while the rest of the scene goes unsorted.

Begin chest compressions and ventilations: Compressions treat cardiac arrest, and a distal pulse is palpable in this patient. Starting a full resuscitation during primary triage also commits the EMT to one patient while every other patient waits to be assessed.

Question 8 of 10

During primary triage after an apartment fire, the EMT 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/min, a palpable radial pulse, and follows simple commands. What should the EMT 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/min 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 EMT 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 9 of 10

An EMT crew is dispatched to a mass-casualty incident at a rail platform and is directed to report to the staging area. Triage is already under way on the platform. On the way in, the crew passes a patient who is sitting on the curb holding a bandaged forearm, calling for help, and wearing no triage tag. What should the crew do?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Report to the staging area and wait for an assignment

Crews arriving at an incident check in at the location command designates and take an assignment before doing anything else. Check-in is what allows command to track which personnel and units are on scene, which matters most if a secondary event occurs. Acting before check-in is freelancing: it removes the unit from the plan and from the accountability system. Triage of the platform is already assigned to someone, so an untagged patient sitting there is inside that assignment and will be reached.

Why the others are wrong

Stop and triage the patient before reporting to staging: A student picks this because a patient asking for help is right in front of them and carries no tag. Triage of that platform is already assigned, and a second crew working it unannounced leaves command with an inaccurate picture of who is doing what.

Load the patient and transport to the closest hospital: Transporting straight away feels like using the ambulance for what it is for. It removes a unit from the incident before command has counted it and commits that unit to a patient who has not been prioritized against the others.

Assess the patient and report the findings to command: Assessing and radioing the findings sounds like a compromise between helping and following the plan. It still begins patient care before check-in and adds radio traffic on a channel command needs for the triage report.

Question 10 of 10

At a multiple-patient incident, an EMT has triaged 4 patients: 1 Red, 2 Yellow, and 1 Green. One ambulance with a two-person crew is on scene; a second ambulance is 12 minutes away. The Red patient is deteriorating. What is the most appropriate action?

Show the answer and rationale

Correct answer · Begin transporting the Red patient now with the on-scene ambulance

Resource requests and transport decisions follow triage priority: Red patients are transported first, with whatever unit is available, rather than waiting for additional resources or transporting lower-priority patients first. A deteriorating Red patient does not wait on a unit that is already on scene.

Why the others are wrong

Wait for the second ambulance before transporting anyone: Incorrect. Waiting 12 minutes to move a deteriorating Red patient risks losing the patient; the on-scene ambulance should not sit idle when it can transport the highest-priority patient now.

Transport both Yellow patients together first, then return for Red: Incorrect. Yellow patients are not immediately life-threatened; transporting them ahead of a deteriorating Red patient reverses triage priority.

Have the Green patient ride along to help monitor the Red patient: Incorrect. A Green (minor) patient is not a substitute for trained personnel, and this does not address getting the Red patient moving.

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