Basic Life Support (BLS) Healthcare Provider Pretests
Basic Life Support Pretest No. 1
In order to get 100%, you must answer all of the following correctly.
1. While at work in a hospital you find an adult victim who has collapsed. No one is available to help. After you ensure that the scene is safe, what should you do next?
Check for unresponsiveness; if the victim is unresponsive, activate the emergency response system (or phone 911) and get the AED if available
Phone 911 (or activate the emergency response system), then wait outside to direct the emergency responders
Open the airway with a tongue-jaw lift and perform 2 finger sweeps to check if food is blocking the airway
Perform CPR for 1 minute, then phone 911
2. You work with an overweight 55-year-old dentist with no known history of heart disease. He begins to complain of sudden, severe, "crushing" pain under his breastbone, in the center of his chest. The pain has lasted more than 5 minutes. What problem should you think of right away, and what should you do?
Heartburn; tell him to take an antacid
Angina; phone his personal physician
Heart attack; phone 911
Arrhythmia; drive him to an Emergency Department
3. You witnessed the collapse of a 45-year-old man. You are now performing CPR after sending someone to phone 911. You have done your best to ensure that the first 2 links in the Chain of Survival have been completed immediately. What is the third link in the chain, which will have the greatest effect on increasing this man's chance of survival?
Arrival of paramedics who will administer drugs
Transportation of the man to a hospital
Arrival of a rescuer with a defibrillator
Arrival of EMS personnel who can do CPR
4. You have been talking with a 60-year-old man. He is alert and has been conversing normally. All at once he complains of a sudden weakness on one side of his face and in one arm. He is also having trouble speaking. What is the most likely cause of his problem?
A seizure
A heart attack
A stroke
Diabetic coma
5. You remove a 3-year-old from the bottom of the shallow end of a swimming pool. You find that she is limp and unresponsive. No other person is available to help. When should you phone 911?
After you have given the child 1 minute of CPR
As soon as you remove the child from the pool
When you see that after several minutes of CPR there is no response
After giving a few ventilations and before beginning chest compressions
6. You are a medical advisor helping set up a public access defibrillation (PAD) program at a local shopping mall. The mall has purchased an AED. The mall personnel director asks, "If AEDs are so 'foolproof,' why do the security guards have to learn CPR and be trained to use the AED?" Which of the following is the best explanation for the need to train rescuers to perform CPR and use an AED?
Rescuers don't need to learn CPR if they can use an AED
Rescuers need to be able to verify the rhythm analyzed by the AED
Rescuers need to know when and how to use the AED safely and to perform the steps of CPR for unresponsive victims who are not in cardiac arrest
Rescuers will need to learn to maintain the AED and repair it if something goes wrong
7. You are responding to an emergency call for a child who was found unresponsive in her bed with no sign of trauma. How should you open her airway?
Place your fingers in her mouth and pull forward on the lower jaw
Do the jaw-thrust maneuver
Tilt her head and lift her chin
Pull her tongue forward
8. Before providing rescue breathing for an unresponsive victim, you must check for breathing. You do this by listening and feeling for airflow through the victim's nose or mouth and by:
Looking into the victim's mouth to see if anything is blocking the airway
Shaking or tapping the victim's shoulder to stimulate him to breathe
Checking the pupils
Looking to see if the chest rises (and falls) as the victim breathes
9. Healthcare providers are cautioned to look for "adequate" breathing when they open the airway and check for breathing in an unresponsive victim. What is the best explanation for the requirement that the healthcare provider look for more than just the presence or absence of breathing?
Healthcare providers often mistake effective breaths for absence of breaths and they start rescue breathing unnecessarily
Most adult victims of cardiac arrest actually stop breathing before the cardiac arrest, and the respiratory arrest precipitates the cardiac arrest
Many victims of sudden cardiac arrest actually have a foreign body in the airway, which will require that you check and confirm that breathing is adequate
Some victims may continue to demonstrate agonal or gasping breaths for several minutes after a cardiac arrest, but these breaths and breaths that are too slow or too shallow will not maintain oxygenation.
10. You are in the hospital cafeteria, where a woman appears to be in distress. She is grasping her throat with both hands. What should you do to find out if she is choking?
Give her 5 back blows
Give her 5 abdominal thrusts
Ask her "Are you choking?" and look for any response
Shake her and shout "Are you OK?"
11. You are providing rescue breathing for a child using a bag-mask device. What action will confirm that each of your rescue breaths is adequate?
Determining the child's weight, calculating the tidal volume, and delivering that amount of air
Observing the child's chest rise with each rescue breath
Choosing the correct size bag-mask device, which will ensure delivery of adequate rescue breaths
Delivering breaths quickly with high peak inspiratory pressures
12. A 3-year-old child is eating in the hospital playroom. She suddenly begins coughing repeatedly. Her cough then quickly becomes soft and weak. She is making high-pitched noises while breathing in and seems to be in respiratory distress. Her skin is a bluish color. What is the most likely cause of her distress?
An acute asthma attack causing a swelling of the airway
Severe or complete airway obstruction with inadequate air exchange
Infected and swollen vocal cords
A seizure from a possible head injury
13. You are performing rescue breathing with a bag-mask device and oxygen for a nonbreathing child with signs of circulation. How often should you provide rescue breaths for the child?
Approximately once every 3 seconds (20 breaths per minute)
Approximately once every 4 seconds (15 breaths per minute)
Approximately once every 5 seconds (10 to 12 breaths per minute)
Approximately once every 10 seconds (6 breaths per minute)
14. You are performing 2-rescuer CPR. You are positioned at the victim's head. When you initially open the unresponsive victim's airway and find that he is not breathing adequately, how many initial breaths should you give?
1
2
3
4
15. You are at your grandmother's house. Your grandmother is unresponsive and has stopped breathing. You are giving her mouth-to-mouth breathing. Which of the following statements is the best explanation for the positive effects of rescue breaths?
Rescue breaths help overcome any airway obstruction that may be blocking the airway
Rescue breaths will maintain a normal arterial oxygen content
Rescue breathing might help defibrillate the heart
Rescue breaths are a quick, effective way to provide oxygen to the victim
Quiz made possible with Dodo's Quiz Script
Basic Life Support Tests
Basic Life Support Pretest No. 1
Basic Life Support Pretest No. 2
Q & A (short version)
Annotated AHA Answer Sheet
Basic Life Support Course A
Basic Life Support Course B
Manuals:
Red Cross Manuals
AHA Guidelines for CPR/ECC
Back to the Quiz List
Emergency Care I
Emergency Care II
Emergency Care III
Paramedic Emergency Care
Hazmat for First Responders
Emergency Medical Technician
Nurse Aide (NNAAP)
Physician Assistant (PANCE)