General Staff and the EMS Branch Practice Questions

25 multiple-choice questions on General staff and the EMS branch for paramedic and EMT students, from Chapter 48 (Incident Management and Mass-Casualty Incidents). Read each question, pick your answer, then tap Show answer to check it and read the explanation.

25 practice questions

1. At a refinery explosion with 40 injured workers, the IC names an operations section chief. This person will be responsible for:

   1. A. Ordering supplies, food, and equipment for crews
   2. B. Tracking costs, time, and injury claims for staff
   3. C. Briefing the media and writing all press releases
   4. D. Directing all tactical work at the incident
   Show answer

   Answer: D. Directing all tactical work at the incident

   Operations directs the tactical activities that carry out the incident objectives, including EMS, fire, and rescue work. Supplies are logistics, costs are finance/administration, and media briefings belong to the PIO.

2. On day 2 of a tornado response, a chief officer is assigned as planning section chief. Her section is responsible for:

   1. A. Directing tactical crews in the hazard zone
   2. B. Purchasing equipment and paying for supplies
   3. C. Gathering information and preparing the IAP
   4. D. Providing food, fuel, and shelter for all crews
   Show answer

   Answer: C. Gathering information and preparing the IAP

   Planning collects and evaluates information on the situation and resources, prepares the incident action plan, keeps documentation, and plans demobilization. Directing crews is operations, and purchasing falls under finance/administration.

3. The logistics section at a large incident provides:

   1. A. Facilities, supplies, and services for responders
   2. B. Tactical orders to crews treating patients
   3. C. Cost tracking and claims for injured workers
   4. D. The overall objectives for each operational period
   Show answer

   Answer: A. Facilities, supplies, and services for responders

   Logistics supports the incident with facilities, transportation, communications equipment, supplies, food, and the medical unit that cares for responders. Objectives come from command, and cost tracking belongs to finance/administration.

4. At a multiday MCI, a firefighter twists an ankle while working in the treatment area. Care for injured responders is arranged by the medical unit, which is part of the:

   1. A. Operations section
   2. B. Logistics section
   3. C. Planning section
   4. D. Command staff team
   Show answer

   Answer: B. Logistics section

   The ICS medical unit sits in logistics and provides care for incident personnel, not for patients from the incident. Patient care for victims is managed by the medical branch or group under operations.

5. Three days into a flood MCI, the finance/administration section is still staffed even though most crews have left. This section is responsible for:

   1. A. Planning which units are released first
   2. B. Requesting more ambulances from the region
   3. C. Choosing the receiving hospital for patients
   4. D. Tracking costs, time records, and claims
   Show answer

   Answer: D. Tracking costs, time records, and claims

   Finance/administration tracks expenditures, personnel time, procurement, and compensation and claims. It matters for reimbursement after major incidents, but it does not order tactical resources or choose destinations.

6. On a large MCI, the EMS functions such as triage, treatment, and transport are usually organized under the:

   1. A. Logistics section
   2. B. Planning section
   3. C. Operations section
   4. D. Finance/admin section
   Show answer

   Answer: C. Operations section

   Patient care is a tactical activity, so the medical branch or group reports to the operations section chief. Logistics supports responders with supplies and facilities but does not run patient care.

7. The medical branch director at a large MCI is responsible for:

   1. A. Personally treating the most critical patients
   2. B. Running the staging area for every incoming unit
   3. C. Overseeing triage, treatment, and transport
   4. D. Writing the IAP for the next operational period
   Show answer

   Answer: C. Overseeing triage, treatment, and transport

   The medical branch director (or medical group supervisor) coordinates the triage, treatment, and transport units and reports to operations. Hands-on care would distract from coordinating the whole medical effort.

8. You are named triage unit leader as 30 patients lie scattered around a derailed train. Your main duty is to:

   1. A. Treat every red-tagged patient until transport
   2. B. Assign each patient to a receiving hospital
   3. C. Order supplies for the treatment area tarps
   4. D. Direct the sorting and tagging of all patients
   Show answer

   Answer: D. Direct the sorting and tagging of all patients

   The triage unit leader supervises triage teams, makes sure all patients are found, sorted, and tagged, and reports patient counts to the medical branch. Hospital assignment belongs to the transport unit, and treatment to the treatment unit.

9. After initial triage is complete, the triage unit leader should report to the medical branch director:

   1. A. Patient counts by priority category
   2. B. Each patient's name and date of birth
   3. C. A full medication list for each patient
   4. D. The cause of each patient's injuries
   Show answer

   Answer: A. Patient counts by priority category

   Counts by category (immediate, delayed, minor, deceased) tell command how many treatment and transport resources are needed. Detailed histories are gathered later in treatment and are not needed for resource planning.

10. The treatment unit leader at an MCI is responsible for:

    1. A. Calling hospitals to report available beds
    2. B. Setting up treatment areas and giving care
    3. C. Moving arriving ambulances out of staging
    4. D. Locating and tagging patients at the scene
    Show answer

    Answer: B. Setting up treatment areas and giving care

    The treatment unit leader sets up treatment areas by priority, assigns providers, oversees ongoing care and retriage, and moves patients to transport when called. Hospital contact is the transport unit's job.

11. At a stadium crush with 50 patients, you are assigned as transport unit leader. Your main job is:

    1. A. Tagging patients found in the wreckage
    2. B. Giving care to patients in the red area
    3. C. Briefing the IC on the overall plan
    4. D. Matching patients to units and hospitals
    Show answer

    Answer: D. Matching patients to units and hospitals

    The transport unit leader coordinates with the hospitals (often through a medical communications coordinator), assigns patients to ambulances, and tracks where each patient goes. Tagging belongs to triage and care to treatment.

12. The staging area manager at an MCI is responsible for:

    1. A. Sending each unit to the closest hospital
    2. B. Holding units until they are called
    3. C. Choosing treatment priorities for patients
    4. D. Leading crews in the rehabilitation area
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    Answer: B. Holding units until they are called

    The staging area manager checks in arriving units, keeps them ready, and releases them when the transport unit or command requests them. This prevents gridlock and freelancing at the scene.

13. The staging area manager sees only 2 ambulances left in staging while 15 patients still await transport. The manager should:

    1. A. Tell command so more units can be requested
    2. B. Hold both units until more units arrive
    3. C. Send both units to the scene right away
    4. D. Close staging and send the crews home
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Tell command so more units can be requested

    Staging keeps a ready reserve, and when it runs low the manager reports to command so more units are requested before transport stalls. Holding units back from a transport request delays care, and sending both without reporting leaves no reserve and no warning.

14. The staging area should ideally be located:

    1. A. Next to the triage area at the incident site
    2. B. In the hot zone so units can load faster
    3. C. Away from the scene with easy access
    4. D. At the receiving hospital's ambulance bay
    Show answer

    Answer: C. Away from the scene with easy access

    Staging should be close enough for a quick response but far enough to avoid congestion and hazards, with clear routes in and out. Staging beside triage or in the hot zone creates gridlock and danger.

15. A paramedic in the treatment area learns that two red patients need ambulances. To get units, the treatment unit leader should:

    1. A. Radio staging to request any unit
    2. B. Call 9-1-1 for more ambulances
    3. C. Ask the PIO to find a crew to help
    4. D. Notify the transport unit leader
    Show answer

    Answer: D. Notify the transport unit leader

    Treatment tells transport when patients are ready, and transport requests units from staging and assigns hospitals. Going directly to staging bypasses transport and breaks patient tracking.

16. During a fireworks explosion MCI, the transport leader assigns a paramedic to stay on the radio with area hospitals. This medical communications coordinator:

    1. A. Runs radio traffic for the fire suppression crews
    2. B. Speaks with the families of injured patients
    3. C. Talks with hospitals about their capacity
    4. D. Briefs the media on numbers of injured patients
    Show answer

    Answer: C. Talks with hospitals about their capacity

    The medical communications coordinator keeps in contact with hospitals to learn how many patients of each priority they can accept, so transport can spread patients appropriately. Family and media contact belong elsewhere.

17. Under NFPA rehab guidance (NFPA 1584, now part of NFPA 1580), a firefighter working an MCI should report to rehab after a second 30-minute SCBA cylinder or after about:

    1. A. 10 minutes of heavy work
    2. B. 40 minutes of intense work
    3. C. 20 minutes of light work
    4. D. 2 hours of steady light work
    Show answer

    Answer: B. 40 minutes of intense work

    NFPA 1584, consolidated into NFPA 1580 in 2025, sends members to rehab after a second 30-minute cylinder, after one 45- or 60-minute cylinder, or after about 40 minutes of intense work. Sending crews to rehab after 10 minutes of heavy work, or 20 minutes of light work, takes them off the line before they need it and wastes personnel. Even with light work, waiting 2 hours lets heat stress, dehydration, and fatigue build to dangerous levels.

18. At a summer MCI, a firefighter asks to leave the rehab area after 20 minutes. His pulse is still 134 beats/min, and he says he feels fine. The rehab officer should:

    1. A. Keep him in rehab until his pulse recovers
    2. B. Release him since he says he feels fine now
    3. C. Send him back to work at a slower pace
    4. D. Give him a sports drink and release him
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Keep him in rehab until his pulse recovers

    A member is released from rehab only after a rest period, commonly at least 20 minutes, once vital signs have recovered. A widely used criterion is a heart rate below about 100 beats/min, with temperature, blood pressure, and SpO2 in range. A pulse of 134 at 20 minutes means he has not recovered: keep him, continue cooling and fluids, reassess, and evaluate him for heat illness or a cardiac problem if the rate does not come down. Feeling fine does not rule out heat strain. Lighter duty still returns an unrecovered member to work. A drink helps rehydration but does not replace the release criteria.

19. Rehab areas should be set up in a place that is:

    1. A. Just outside the work area, downwind of it
    2. B. Away from smoke, traffic, and weather
    3. C. In the staging area among idling vehicles
    4. D. At a fire station several miles away
    Show answer

    Answer: B. Away from smoke, traffic, and weather

    Rehab should be shielded from hazards, exhaust, weather, and the media, with room to rest and drink. A downwind site exposes crews to smoke, staging among idling vehicles adds exhaust and noise, and a station miles away delays crews' return and makes them hard to track.

20. A large MCI has many patients trapped in a collapsed structure. The IC may create an extrication group to:

    1. A. Free and move trapped patients to triage
    2. B. Assign red patients to the trauma centers
    3. C. Track the costs of heavy rescue equipment
    4. D. Count the walking wounded in the green area
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Free and move trapped patients to triage

    An extrication group frees trapped patients and moves them to triage or treatment. Assigning destinations is the transport unit's job. Cost tracking belongs to finance/administration. The walking wounded are counted by triage and cared for in the green treatment area.

21. A building collapse leaves 6 people dead among 40 injured. The IC sets up a morgue unit, whose role is to:

    1. A. Treat expectant patients until they die
    2. B. Prepare the bodies for the funeral homes
    3. C. Secure the dead and protect evidence
    4. D. Pronounce death for every black-tagged patient
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    Answer: C. Secure the dead and protect evidence

    The morgue unit (with the medical examiner and law enforcement) secures deceased victims in an area out of view, preserving evidence and identification. Expectant patients still receive comfort care in treatment.

22. Deceased victims at an MCI should generally:

    1. A. Be moved to the treatment area right away
    2. B. Be taken to the nearest hospital morgue
    3. C. Be covered and moved to one collection area
    4. D. Be left in place unless moving is needed
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    Answer: D. Be left in place unless moving is needed

    Bodies are left where found unless moving them is needed to reach live patients or to protect them, because their positions may be evidence. Taking the dead to a hospital morgue uses ambulances needed for the living, and moving every body to a collection point at once can destroy evidence that the medical examiner needs.

23. The supply unit of the medical branch is most likely to:

    1. A. Assign drivers to each arriving ambulance
    2. B. Stock treatment areas with medical supplies
    3. C. Decide the treatment priority of patients
    4. D. Coordinate radio traffic with the hospitals
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    Answer: B. Stock treatment areas with medical supplies

    Medical supply staff gather and distribute bandages, splints, oxygen, and other supplies to treatment areas, often from mass-casualty caches. Assigning drivers is staging, and hospital radio traffic is the medical communications coordinator.

24. You are assigned as triage unit leader. Your crew finishes the initial sort. The best use of the crew now is to:

    1. A. Begin transporting green patients
    2. B. Return to their units in staging
    3. C. Report to treatment as directed
    4. D. Leave the scene for the hospital
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    Answer: C. Report to treatment as directed

    When triage is done, triage personnel usually report to the treatment area or are reassigned by the medical branch, where they help with care and retriage. Self-assigning to transport or leaving would break accountability.

25. In the medical branch, each unit leader reports to:

    1. A. The incident commander directly
    2. B. The safety officer for the branch
    3. C. The PIO who manages scene radio traffic
    4. D. The medical branch director
    Show answer

    Answer: D. The medical branch director

    Unity of command and span of control mean triage, treatment, and transport leaders report to the medical branch director (or medical group supervisor), who reports to operations. The IC would be overwhelmed if every unit reported directly.