Part of the Trauma practice questions exam area.
This page holds 200 free practice questions for Chapter 39, Environmental Emergencies, covering thermoregulation and fluid balance, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke, frostbite and trench foot, hypothermia and hypothermic cardiac arrest, drowning, diving injuries and decompression sickness, altitude illness, lightning safety, 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.
In a conscious, healthy adult, the most powerful defense against heat and cold is behavior, such as seeking shelter. This defense is lost in a patient who:
Answer: A. Is intoxicated or has dementia
Behavioral responses such as moving to shade or shelter, changing clothing, and drinking fluids are more powerful than physiologic responses. Intoxication, dementia, psychiatric illness, injury, and immobility remove them, which is why these patients are overrepresented in environmental emergencies. The other choices do not impair behavior.
Heat cramps are painful muscle spasms caused mainly by:
Answer: C. Loss of sodium and water in sweat
Heavy sweating replaced with plain water leaves a sodium deficit that triggers cramps in heavily worked muscles. Core temperature is normal in heat cramps, which separates them from heat stroke.
Frostnip differs from frostbite in that frostnip:
Answer: C. Freezes only the skin surface and is reversible
Frostnip is superficial freezing of the skin that blanches and numbs but recovers fully with warming. Frostbite involves actual tissue freezing with ice crystal formation and possible tissue loss.
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.