Med Tech Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 1. To minimize the risk of litigation, the EMT should always: - provide competent care that meets current standards. 2. Which of the following general statements regarding consent is MOST correct? - A patient can consent to transport but can legally refuse to be treated. 3. What type of consent is involved when a 39-year-old mentally competent female with a severe headache asks you to take her to the hospital? - expressed 4. Which of the following scenarios MOST accurately depicts informed consent? - An EMT advises a patient of the risks of receiving treatment. 5. Which of the following types of consent allows treatment of a patient who is unconscious or mentally incapacitated? - implied 6. You are dispatched to an office building for a 49-year-old male with chest pain. When you arrive at the scene, you find the patient to be conscious and alert, but in obvious pain. He tells you that he did not call 9-1-1; a coworker did. He further states that he does not want to be treated or transported to the hospital. You should: - ensure that he is aware of the risks of refusing medical care. 7. You suspect that a pregnant 16-year-old girl has a broken leg after she was hit by a car. You explain that you plan to splint her leg, and she agrees to treatment. What type of consent is her agreement considered? - expressed 8. In many states, a minor may be treated as an adult for the purpose of consenting to or refusing medical treatment if the minor: - is self-supporting and lives by him- or herself. 9. You arrive at the scene of a motor vehicle versus pedestrian accident. The patient, a 13year-old male, is unconscious and has multiple injuries. As you are treating the child, a law enforcement officer advises you that the child's parents will be at the scene in approximately 15 minutes. What should you do? - Transport the child immediately and have the parents meet you at the hospital. 10. You are dispatched to a middle school for a 16-year-old female experiencing an asthma attack. She is conscious and alert, but in severe respiratory distress. The school nurse informs you that she has tried several times to contact the patient's parents but has not been successful. You should: - provide treatment up to your level of training and transport the child at once. 11. You are treating a man with a closed head injury following an assault by a burglar. The patient, who has slurred speech, becomes verbally abusive and tells you to leave him alone. You should: - proceed with treatment and utilize law enforcement if necessary. 12. A patient regains consciousness en route from his office to the emergency department. The patient tells you that he feels fine and does not want to go to the hospital. Under these circumstances, you should: - assess whether or not the patient's mental condition is impaired. 13. Shortly after loading your patient, a 50-year-old man with abdominal pain, into the ambulance, he tells you that he changed his mind and does not want to go to the hospital. He is conscious and alert and has no signs of mental incapacitation. You are suspicious that the man has a significant underlying condition and feel strongly that he should go to the hospital. Which of the following statements regarding this situation is correct? - A mentally competent adult can withdraw his or her consent to treat at any time. 14. You suspect that a 6-year-old girl has broken her leg after falling from a swing at a playground. Shortly after you arrive, the child's mother appears and refuses to allow you to continue treatment. You should: - try to persuade the mother that treatment is needed. 15. In which of the following circumstances can the EMT legally release confidential patient information? - the patient is competent and signs a release form 16. Your BEST protection against legal liability when a competent patient refuses EMS care and transport is to: - thoroughly document the entire event. 17. What section of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) MOST affects EMS personnel? - protecting patient privacy 18. Which of the following is NOT considered to be protected health information (PHI)? - location of the call 19. During your monthly internal quality improvement (QI) meeting, you review several patient care reports (PCRs) with the staff of your EMS system. You identify the patient's name, age, and sex, and then discuss the treatment that was provided by the EMTs in the field. By taking this approach to the QI process, you: - are in violation of HIPAA because you did not remove the PHI from the PCR beforehand. 20. In order for a do not resuscitate (DNR) order to be valid, it must: - clearly state the patient's medical problem. 21. When faced with a situation in which a patient is in cardiac arrest, and a valid living will or DNR order cannot be located, you should: - begin resuscitation at once. 22. You respond to the home of a 59-year-old man who is unconscious, has slow, shallow breathing, and has a weak pulse. The family states that the patient has terminal brain cancer and does not wish to be resuscitated. They further state that there is a DNR order for this patient; however, they are unable to locate it. You should: - begin treatment and contact medical control as needed. 23. You and your partner arrive at the scene of a major motor vehicle crash. The driver, a young male, is severely entrapped in his car. He has an open head injury and massive facial trauma. He is unresponsive, is not breathing, and does not have a palpable carotid pulse. You should: - have your partner check for a pulse to confirm that the patient is deceased. 24. You arrive at the scene of an apparent death. When evaluating the patient, which of the following is a definitive sign of death? - dependent lividity 25. Putrefaction is defined as: - decomposition of the body's tissues. 26. Where would you MOST likely find information regarding a patient's wishes to be an organ donor? - driver's license 27. At the scene of a mass-casualty incident, you identify a patient as an organ donor. When triaging the other patients, you: - may have to assign the donor patient a lower triage priority. 28. The EMT's scope of practice within his or her local response area is defined by the: - medical director. 29. The manner in which the EMT must act or behave when caring for a patient is called the: - standard of care. 30. As an EMT, the performance of your duties will be compared to that of: - another EMT. 31. You have been tasked by your medical director to assist in the development of your EMS agency's institutional standards. When developing these standards, it is important to: - be reasonable and realistic to avoid overburdening your personnel. 32. When performing his or her duties, the EMT is generally expected to: - exercise reasonable care and act prudently. 33. In which of the following situations does the EMT NOT have a legal duty to act? - a response to a motor vehicle crash while off duty 34. Which of the following MOST accurately defines negligence? - deviation from the standard of care that may result in further injury 35. Which of the following components are needed to prove negligence? - duty to act, breach of duty, injury/damages, and causation 36. When caring for a 65-year-old male with respiratory distress, you place him in a comfortable position but do not apply oxygen. The patient's condition continues to deteriorate and he develops cardiac arrest and dies at the hospital. This scenario is an example of: - negligence. 37. Which of the following scenarios MOST accurately depicts abandonment? - A paramedic transfers patient care to an EMT. 38. While transporting a stable patient with chest pain to the hospital, you come across a major motor vehicle crash involving several critically injured patients. Your MOST appropriate action should be to: - continue transporting your patient and notify the dispatcher of the crash. 39. An EMT would MOST likely be held liable for abandonment if he or she: - did not make provisions for continued care of an injured patient. 40. Acting in such a way as to make another person fear immediate bodily harm is called: - assault. 41. Which of the following statements regarding the Good Samaritan law is correct? - It will not protect the EMT in cases of gross negligence. 42. 42. If an action or procedure that was performed on a patient is not recorded on the written report: - it was not performed in the eyes of the law. 43. In the eyes of the court, an incomplete or untidy patient care form indicates: - that inadequate patient care was administered. 44. Which of the following situations requires you to notify the appropriate authorities? - attempted suicide 45. You and your partner are the first to arrive at a potential crime scene with a critically injured patient involved. The scene is safe. Your first priority is to: - provide immediate patient care. 46. Maintaining the chain of evidence at the scene of a crime should include: - not cutting through holes in clothing that were caused by weapons. 47. You are dispatched to an apartment complex for a shooting. Law enforcement personnel are present and have the suspect in custody. You narrow space between the couch and coffee table of his small apartment. He is semiconscious and has a large gunshot wound to his chest. You should: - quickly move the coffee table so you can access and treat the patient. 48. Two EMTs witnessed a call in which a coworker gave adequate medical care but ignored the patient's emotional needs. The coworker was deliberately rude solely because the patient was thought to be infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The EMTs ignored the coworker's treatment of this patient and took no steps to prevent this behavior from happening again. This lack of action on the part of the two EMTs is considered: - legal but unethical. 49. While transporting a woman with diabetes, you inadvertently give her oral glucose even though her blood glucose level was high. You reassess the patient and note that her condition did not change; she remained stable. You should: - contact medical control and notify him or her of the error. 50. When you and your partner arrive at the residence of a man in cardiac arrest, you immediately recognize the patient as the drunk driver who killed your brother several years earlier. A backup ambulance is en route to the scene. You should: - begin two-rescuer CPR and apply the automated external defibrillator (AED) as soon as possible.