Part of the Trauma practice questions exam area.
This page holds 200 free practice questions for Chapter 36, Chest Trauma, covering thoracic anatomy and ventilation, rib fractures, flail chest, and pulmonary contusion, simple, open, and tension pneumothorax, needle decompression, hemothorax, cardiac tamponade, blunt cardiac injury, and commotio cordis, traumatic aortic disruption, tracheobronchial, diaphragmatic, and esophageal injuries, traumatic asphyxia, and traumatic cardiac arrest and special populations. They are written for paramedic and EMT students working through Nancy Caroline's Emergency Care in the Streets, 9th edition. Every question shows the correct answer with a short explanation as soon as you tap, so you learn while you test rather than waiting until the end.
Study it two ways: the 10 Question Blitz, a quick round where every right answer lights a siren and any misses lead into Lights & Sirens, a 5-in-a-row drill on that section, or the full 100-question test drawn at random from the whole chapter. After each test you get a score and a section-by-section breakdown. Progress on the full test is saved on your device, so you can stop and pick up later.
The bony thoracic cage is made up of 12 pairs of ribs, the sternum, and the:
Answer: B. Thoracic vertebrae
The ribs articulate posteriorly with the 12 thoracic vertebrae and most attach anteriorly to the sternum. The clavicles and scapulae form the shoulder girdle, which sits on top of the cage but is not part of it.
A flail chest is defined as:
Answer: B. Two or more adjacent ribs broken in two or more places
A flail segment needs at least two adjacent ribs each broken in at least two places, so that piece of chest wall floats free. Several ribs each broken once is serious but does not create a free-floating segment.
A trauma patient has equal breath sounds on both sides in a noisy ambulance. Regarding pneumothorax, this finding:
Answer: B. Does not rule out a pneumothorax
Small pneumothoraces often cause no detectable change in breath sounds, especially in a moving ambulance, and can enlarge later, particularly with positive-pressure ventilation or air transport. Keep monitoring work of breathing, SpO2, and ETCO2. Equal sounds do not exclude chest wall injury or remove the need for oxygen.
Most students use the 10 Question Blitz for daily practice and take the full 100-question test in the days before a class exam or NREMT practice. Lights & Sirens after a blitz is the fastest way to close gaps the night before a test.
Every question in this chapter is also listed by section, with answers, on the topic pages above. See all paramedic topics or take the NREMT paramedic practice test.
Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Ch. 4 Ch. 5 Ch. 6 Ch. 7 Ch. 8 Ch. 9 Ch. 10 Ch. 11 Ch. 12 Ch. 13 Ch. 14 Ch. 15 Ch. 16 Ch. 17 Ch. 18 Ch. 19 Ch. 20 Ch. 21 Ch. 22 Ch. 23 Ch. 24 Ch. 25 Ch. 26 Ch. 27 Ch. 28 Ch. 29 Ch. 30 Ch. 31 Ch. 32 Ch. 33 Ch. 34 Ch. 35 Ch. 36 Ch. 37 Ch. 38 Ch. 39 Ch. 40 Ch. 41 Ch. 42 Ch. 43 Ch. 44 Ch. 45 Ch. 46 Ch. 47 Ch. 48 Ch. 49 Ch. 50 Ch. 51 Ch. 52 Ch. 53
These practice questions were written for this site. They are not the publisher's test bank and are not affiliated with or endorsed by Jones & Bartlett Learning, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, or the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. Use them alongside your textbook and your instructor's objectives.