Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Intermediate Practice Exam

After ensuring an open airway for a semiconscious patient with extensive burns, what is the next step in management?

1. Administer oral fluids

2. Provide supplemental oxygen via a nasal cannula

3. Assist ventilations with a bag-mask device

4. Apply a burn dressing

The correct answer is: Assist ventilations with a bag-mask device

For a semiconscious patient with extensive burns, maintaining adequate ventilation is a priority following the establishment of an open airway. Administering supplemental oxygen is indeed important, but if the patient is semiconscious, there may be an altered ability to maintain adequate ventilation on their own. This situation often necessitates the use of a bag-mask device to assist with ventilations effectively. Assisting ventilations with a bag-mask device ensures that the patient receives sufficient air exchange, which is critical in managing potential airway compromise associated with burns. Inhalation injuries may also be present in burn cases, leading to airway swelling or obstruction. Therefore, promptly assisting ventilations can prevent hypoxia and optimize oxygenation, which is crucial for the patient's survival. While other interventions such as providing supplemental oxygen or applying burn dressings are important aspects of burn management, they would follow the immediate step of ensuring that the patient can ventilate properly, especially when they may be semiconscious and incapable of adequate spontaneous breaths.