EMT Operations Practice Test
Documentation, communication, ambulance ops and incident command. Here are 10 EMT operations questions, each with the answer and the reason.
Updated by the Tigertest team. Weighted to the NREMT EMT examination specifications (April 2025). Protocols vary; follow local medical direction. Not affiliated with the NREMT.
- 1.
While restraining a combative patient, a used needle punctures your gloved hand. After washing the site, you should:
- A.
Report it promptly to the infection control officer
- B.
Wait to see whether symptoms develop
- C.
Ask the patient yourself for an HIV test
- D.
Report it to your supervisor at the start of next shift
Answer: A.Exposures should be washed and reported immediately to the designated infection control officer, because post-exposure treatment works best within hours. Waiting for symptoms or the next shift delays that care.
- A.
- 2.
You and your partner lift a 90 kg patient on a cot. Using the power lift technique, you should:
- A.
Bend at the waist and lift with your back
- B.
Twist your torso to turn as you lift
- C.
Lock your back and lift with your legs
- D.
Hold the cot well away from your body
Answer: C.The power lift keeps the back locked, feet shoulder-width apart, the load close, and the legs doing the work. Twisting or lifting with the back is a common cause of EMS back injury.
- A.
- 3.
Two weeks after a fatal pediatric call, your partner has nightmares, poor sleep and irritability. The best response is to:
- A.
Tell him to avoid talking about the call
- B.
Encourage help through CISM or counseling
- C.
Suggest a drink to help him fall asleep
- D.
Recommend overtime shifts as a distraction
Answer: B.Persistent sleep loss and irritability after a critical incident are stress reactions that warrant critical incident stress management or professional help. Alcohol and extra shifts worsen fatigue and stress.
- A.
- 4.
Running lights and siren to a cardiac arrest, you approach a red light at a busy intersection. You should:
- A.
Proceed since you have the right of way
- B.
Slow slightly and rely on the siren
- C.
Follow closely behind a police escort
- D.
Come to a stop, then clear each lane
Answer: D.Lights and sirens only request the right of way, and most ambulance crashes occur at intersections, so drive with due regard and clear each lane. Escorts are discouraged because drivers may not expect the second vehicle.
- A.
- 5.
A medical helicopter has landed in your 100 by 100 foot landing zone on a slight slope. You should approach:
- A.
From the front, after the pilot signals
- B.
From the rear, away from the main rotor
- C.
From the uphill side, as soon as it lands
- D.
From the side, before the rotors slow
Answer: A.Approach only from the front, within the pilot's view, and only when signaled. The tail rotor makes the rear deadly, and the main rotor dips closer to the ground on the uphill side.
- A.
- 6.
At an overturned tanker leaking an unknown liquid, you see a placard with a four-digit number. As an awareness-level EMT, you should:
- A.
Approach the tanker to read the shipping papers
- B.
Stay upwind in the cold zone and use the ERG
- C.
Enter the warm zone to begin triage
- D.
Treat victims before they are decontaminated
Answer: B.Awareness-level EMTs stay uphill, upwind and in the cold zone, using the placard number in the Emergency Response Guidebook. Patients are decontaminated before EMTs treat them.
- A.
- 7.
A D cylinder reads 2,000 psi. You give 15 L/min by nonrebreather. Using a 200 psi safe residual, how long will it last?
- A.
About 21 minutes
- B.
About 19 minutes
- C.
About 34 minutes
- D.
About 10 minutes
Answer: B.Duration = (2,000 - 200) x 0.16 / 15 = 288 / 15, about 19 minutes. Skipping the 200 psi safe residual gives 21 minutes, and using the E constant of 0.28 gives about 34.
- A.
- 8.
At the start of your shift, the AED self-test indicator shows an error. You should:
- A.
Take it out of service and replace it
- B.
Leave it in service until shift ends
- C.
Use it only if no other AED is nearby
- D.
Wait for the next scheduled weekly check
Answer: A.Equipment that fails a start-of-shift check must be removed from service and replaced, then reported per agency policy. Keeping a faulty AED on the unit risks a failure during a cardiac arrest.
- A.
- 9.
During your rig check, the solution in an epinephrine auto-injector window looks brown and cloudy. You should:
- A.
Keep it on the unit as a backup dose
- B.
Shake it until it looks clear
- C.
Remove it and restock a new one
- D.
Use it first on the next call
Answer: C.Discolored or cloudy epinephrine has degraded and must be removed and replaced. Keeping it as a backup risks giving an ineffective dose to a patient in anaphylaxis.
- A.
- 10.
You wrote the wrong pulse rate on a paper PCR before submitting it. The correct way to fix the error is to:
- A.
Black it out and write over it
- B.
Cover it with correction fluid
- C.
Start a new PCR and discard the original one
- D.
Draw one line through it, initial and date
Answer: D.A single line through the error, with initials and date, keeps the original readable and shows the correction was honest. Obliterating the entry or discarding the original looks like falsification.
- A.
Drill every operations question in the EMT Operations drill: questions you miss come back until you have mastered them. Then take a timed practice test with the NREMT EMT section in it.
Start practicing200 EMT questions in all. Free to start. No account needed.