Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Intermediate Practice Exam

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Study for the EMT Intermediate Exam. Access detailed flashcards and multiple-choice questions that come with hints and explanations. Prepare comprehensively for your EMT certification!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.


What should you do for an unresponsive patient with a large forehead hematoma and slow respirations?

  1. Call for immediate transport

  2. Assist his ventilations with 100% oxygen

  3. Monitor his vital signs

  4. Perform a rapid trauma assessment

The correct answer is: Assist his ventilations with 100% oxygen

For an unresponsive patient presenting with a large forehead hematoma and slow respirations, assisting ventilations with 100% oxygen is critical. The combination of unresponsiveness and altered respiratory rate suggests a potential life-threatening condition, possibly indicating a significant cerebral injury or increased intracranial pressure due to the hematoma. Administering 100% oxygen helps to ensure that the patient receives adequate oxygenation, which is essential to prevent hypoxia, especially since the patient is unable to adequately ventilate on their own. Assisting with ventilations becomes crucial to support their breathing and maintain proper oxygen levels in the bloodstream. This intervention can stabilize the patient's condition until advanced care can be provided. While calling for immediate transport, monitoring vital signs, and performing a rapid trauma assessment are all important components of patient care in trauma situations, they do not directly address the immediate respiratory needs of the patient as effectively as assisting with ventilations does. Therefore, ensuring that the patient can adequately breathe and receive oxygen is the priority in this scenario.