Negligence and Liability Practice Questions

39 multiple-choice questions on Negligence and liability for paramedic and EMT students, from Chapter 4 (Medical, Legal, and Ethical Issues). Read each question, pick your answer, then tap Show answer to check it and read the explanation.

39 practice questions

1. The four elements a plaintiff must prove in a negligence case are:

   1. A. Consent, refusal, injury, and records
   2. B. Malice, breach, harm, and intent
   3. C. Duty, breach, damages, and causation
   4. D. Intent, action, injury, and cost
   Show answer

   Answer: C. Duty, breach, damages, and causation

   All four must be present; missing one defeats the claim.

2. A duty to act exists when:

   1. A. The provider is dispatched or has begun care
   2. B. A person is injured in the provider's presence
   3. C. A bystander asks a trained person for help
   4. D. A paramedic witnesses any emergency off duty
   Show answer

   Answer: A. The provider is dispatched or has begun care

   Being on duty and dispatched, or beginning care, creates a legal obligation. Off-duty duty to act varies by state and employer policy.

3. Breach of duty means the provider:

   1. A. Had a legal obligation to provide care
   2. B. Caused the injury the patient suffered
   3. C. Failed to act as a prudent paramedic would
   4. D. Produced a harm that a court can compensate
   Show answer

   Answer: C. Failed to act as a prudent paramedic would

   Breach can be an act performed wrong or a required act omitted. A legal obligation is duty, causing the injury is causation, and compensable harm is damages; each is a separate element.

4. Proximate cause means:

   1. A. The breach caused the patient's harm
   2. B. The provider owed the patient a duty
   3. C. Care fell below the standard
   4. D. The patient suffered compensable loss
   Show answer

   Answer: A. The breach caused the patient's harm

   The breach must directly cause or contribute to the harm. Without this link, negligence cannot be proven. These describe duty, breach, and damages, the other elements of negligence.

5. Damages in a negligence case refer to:

   1. A. The specific error the provider made on scene
   2. B. The billed cost of the ambulance transport
   3. C. The patient's compensable harm or losses
   4. D. Fines the state imposes on the provider
   Show answer

   Answer: C. The patient's compensable harm or losses

   Damages may include physical, financial, and emotional losses. Harm must be demonstrated, not assumed. State fines are a licensing penalty, not damages in a civil case.

6. Gross negligence differs from ordinary negligence in that it involves:

   1. A. A slow response due to heavy traffic
   2. B. Reckless disregard for patient safety
   3. C. An honest mistake in clinical judgment
   4. D. Failure to complete the patient care report
   Show answer

   Answer: B. Reckless disregard for patient safety

   It is willful, wanton, or reckless conduct. Immunity statutes rarely protect against gross negligence.

7. Res ipsa loquitur applies when:

   1. A. The patient care report is missing
   2. B. The harm implies negligence by its nature
   3. C. The provider admits fault in a written statement
   4. D. There were no witnesses present at the event
   Show answer

   Answer: B. The harm implies negligence by its nature

   The harm must be the kind that ordinarily does not occur without negligence and must have been under the provider's control. The phrase means the thing speaks for itself.

8. Abandonment occurs when a paramedic:

   1. A. Refers a stable patient to a clinic
   2. B. Ends care without a proper handoff
   3. C. Is delayed at the hospital waiting for a bed
   4. D. Transfers care to another agency's paramedic
   Show answer

   Answer: B. Ends care without a proper handoff

   Abandonment is ending care without consent and without transfer to a provider of equal or higher training. A proper verbal report to the receiving provider prevents it.

9. Battery is:

   1. A. Honoring a patient's refusal of transport
   2. B. Appropriately restraining a violent patient
   3. C. Threatening a patient with harmful contact
   4. D. Treating a patient without consent
   Show answer

   Answer: D. Treating a patient without consent

   Battery is touching or treating without consent or lawful justification. Assault is placing someone in fear of harmful contact.

10. False imprisonment can occur when a paramedic:

    1. A. Transports a patient who verbally consented
    2. B. Restrains a patient without legal justification
    3. C. Delays transport to finish treatment on scene
    4. D. Restrains a violent patient under a valid legal hold
    Show answer

    Answer: B. Restrains a patient without legal justification

    Transporting against the patient's will without justification also qualifies. Documentation of the justification for restraint is essential. Restraint under a valid hold, used to prevent harm, is legally justified.

11. Defamation involves:

    1. A. Any critical comment made about a coworker
    2. B. An unflattering but accurate care report
    3. C. Reporting suspected abuse in good faith
    4. D. False statements that harm a reputation
    Show answer

    Answer: D. False statements that harm a reputation

    Written defamation is libel; spoken defamation is slander. Stick to objective findings in reports and conversation.

12. Which of the following most reduces a paramedic's liability exposure?

    1. A. Transporting every patient regardless
    2. B. Leaving errors out of the documentation
    3. C. Working within scope and documenting well
    4. D. Avoiding calls to online medical control
    Show answer

    Answer: C. Working within scope and documenting well

    Following protocols and communicating well also help. Good communication prevents many complaints from becoming lawsuits.

13. Liability insurance for a paramedic:

    1. A. May be employer-provided, with limits
    2. B. Eliminates the legal duty to act
    3. C. Is unnecessary for any employed medic
    4. D. Covers defense against criminal charges
    Show answer

    Answer: A. May be employer-provided, with limits

    Personal coverage is worth considering. Employer policies protect the employer's interests first.

14. A paramedic who discovers an error made during a call should:

    1. A. Ask the partner to revise the report
    2. B. Document it only if harm is apparent
    3. C. Correct care, disclose, and document it
    4. D. Leave it out of the patient care report
    Show answer

    Answer: C. Correct care, disclose, and document it

    Correct care as needed, notify the receiving provider, document objectively, and report through agency channels. Concealment turns a mistake into misconduct.

15. Ordinary negligence involves:

    1. A. Unintentional failure to use reasonable care
    2. B. Willful disregard for the patient's safety
    3. C. Conduct that is criminal by definition
    4. D. Deliberate intent to harm the patient
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Unintentional failure to use reasonable care

    It is unintentional.

16. Malpractice is:

    1. A. Any error made during patient care
    2. B. Criminal conduct by a licensed provider
    3. C. Negligence by a professional
    4. D. An intentional tort against a patient
    Show answer

    Answer: C. Negligence by a professional

    It is failure by a professional to meet the standard of care. The elements are the same as negligence.

17. An off-duty paramedic in a state with no off-duty duty-to-act law drives past a crash. She stops, begins bleeding control, then leaves before EMS arrives because she is late for dinner. What is her legal exposure?

    1. A. None, since she was off duty and had no duty to act
    2. B. Possible abandonment, since she began care and left
    3. C. None, since Good Samaritan laws cover all volunteers
    4. D. Only a licensing complaint, never any civil liability
    Show answer

    Answer: B. Possible abandonment, since she began care and left

    Even when there is no duty to stop, starting care creates a duty to continue until care is handed to an equal or higher provider or is no longer needed. Leaving mid-care can be abandonment. Good Samaritan laws protect good-faith volunteers from ordinary negligence. They usually do not protect someone who walks away from a patient in the middle of care.

18. Breach of duty can occur through:

    1. A. Improper acts or omitted required acts
    2. B. Only failures to perform a needed act
    3. C. Only errors in the written documentation
    4. D. Only actions that were performed wrongly
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Improper acts or omitted required acts

    Failure to assess is a breach by omission.

19. A paramedic fails to secure a patient's cot straps, but the patient arrives unharmed. Later at the hospital, the patient falls out of an ED bed and is injured. A negligence claim against the paramedic would most likely fail on which element?

    1. A. Causation
    2. B. Duty
    3. C. Breach
    4. D. Standard of care
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Causation

    The paramedic had a duty, and leaving the straps unsecured was arguably a breach. The injury, however, came from an unrelated fall at the hospital, so the breach did not cause the harm. Without causation (and damages linked to the breach), there is no negligence claim.

20. A paramedic gives a patient the wrong IV fluid by mistake. The error is caught immediately, and the patient has no harm of any kind. Why would a negligence lawsuit likely fail?

    1. A. There was no duty to the patient
    2. B. The error was not a breach
    3. C. Negligence requires intent to harm
    4. D. There are no damages
    Show answer

    Answer: D. There are no damages

    Negligence requires duty, breach, causation, and damages. Here there was a duty and a breach, but no harm occurred, so there are no damages to compensate. The error still needs to be disclosed, documented, and reported for quality review. Negligence does not require intent; intentional wrongs are a different category of tort.

21. Contributory or comparative negligence refers to:

    1. A. Harm caused by an equipment failure
    2. B. The employer's share of fault for staffing
    3. C. Fault resting solely with the provider
    4. D. The patient's own fault in causing harm
    Show answer

    Answer: D. The patient's own fault in causing harm

    It may reduce or bar recovery. A patient who refuses care contributes to outcomes.

22. Res ipsa loquitur shifts the burden because:

    1. A. The provider has confessed to the error
    2. B. The patient care records are missing
    3. C. Several independent witnesses saw the event
    4. D. Some harms do not occur without negligence
    Show answer

    Answer: D. Some harms do not occur without negligence

    An example is a patient falling from an unsecured cot. The provider must then explain.

23. Negligence per se applies when:

    1. A. Any harm at all occurs during patient care
    2. B. A safety law is violated and causes harm
    3. C. Protocols were followed but harm resulted
    4. D. The patient consented to the treatment
    Show answer

    Answer: B. A safety law is violated and causes harm

    The law must be designed to protect the patient. Violating a safety statute may establish breach automatically.

24. Which action most commonly leads to abandonment claims?

    1. A. Transporting to the nearest hospital
    2. B. Transferring care to an ED physician
    3. C. Giving a verbal report at the bedside
    4. D. Handing off to a lower-trained provider
    Show answer

    Answer: D. Handing off to a lower-trained provider

    Leaving without a proper hand-off is also a risk. Downgrading care without justification is risky.

25. Transferring a patient from a paramedic to an EMT crew is acceptable when:

    1. A. ALS is not needed and protocol allows it
    2. B. Never, once any ALS assessment has started
    3. C. Always, at the paramedic's discretion
    4. D. The EMT crew agrees to accept the patient
    Show answer

    Answer: A. ALS is not needed and protocol allows it

    Document the assessment supporting it.

26. Assault in the EMS context means:

    1. A. Causing fear of imminent harmful contact
    2. B. Touching a patient without their consent
    3. C. Transporting a patient against their will
    4. D. Physically restraining a violent patient
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Causing fear of imminent harmful contact

    The fear must be reasonable. Threatening to inject a refusing patient is assault.

27. An alert, oriented adult with a minor laceration clearly says he does not want an IV. Your partner starts one anyway 'just in case.' This is most accurately described as:

    1. A. Battery
    2. B. Assault
    3. C. Abandonment
    4. D. Defamation
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Battery

    Touching or treating a capable patient against his stated refusal, without legal justification, is battery, even if the intent was helpful. Assault is creating fear of imminent harmful contact without touching. Abandonment is ending care without a proper handoff. Defamation is a false statement that damages reputation.

28. Which is an intentional tort?

    1. A. False imprisonment
    2. B. Ordinary negligence
    3. C. Professional malpractice
    4. D. Breach of duty
    Show answer

    Answer: A. False imprisonment

    Battery, false imprisonment, and defamation are intentional torts. Intent to act, not intent to harm, is the element.

29. Slander refers to defamation that is:

    1. A. Documented
    2. B. Spoken
    3. C. Published online
    4. D. Written
    Show answer

    Answer: B. Spoken

    Libel is written defamation.

30. A paramedic who tells a nurse a patient is faking symptoms may risk:

    1. A. A defamation claim if it is false
    2. B. A HIPAA violation but nothing more
    3. C. No risk, since it was said to staff
    4. D. An assault claim for the remark
    Show answer

    Answer: A. A defamation claim if it is false

    The statement must also damage reputation. Report findings, not conclusions.

31. Invasion of privacy claims may arise from:

    1. A. Telling the ED nurse the patient's history
    2. B. Sharing patient photos without consent
    3. C. Reporting suspected abuse to the state
    4. D. Exposing the chest to place ECG leads
    Show answer

    Answer: B. Sharing patient photos without consent

    Any unauthorized disclosure of private information can qualify. It overlaps with confidentiality rules. Disclosures for treatment and mandated reports are permitted, and exposure needed for care is not an invasion of privacy.

32. Which factor increases the likelihood of being sued?

    1. A. Poor communication and seeming uncaring
    2. B. Calling medical control for advice
    3. C. Documenting the patient's refusal in quotes
    4. D. Working for a large urban agency
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Poor communication and seeming uncaring

    Patients rarely sue providers they liked. Calling medical control and quoting a refusal lower risk, and agency size is not the main predictor of suits.

33. Two paramedics make the same minor error on similar calls. One patient sues and the other does not. Research on malpractice claims suggests the biggest difference is most likely:

    1. A. Which paramedic had more years of field experience
    2. B. Which paramedic followed protocol more closely
    3. C. Which patient had better health insurance
    4. D. How respectfully and clearly each one communicated
    Show answer

    Answer: D. How respectfully and clearly each one communicated

    Studies of malpractice claims consistently show that patients who feel ignored, rushed, or disrespected are more likely to sue, even when the clinical facts are similar. Experience, protocol detail, and the patient's insurance matter far less than the relationship and how the care was explained.

34. En route you realize you gave 50 mcg of fentanyl, not the 25 mcg ordered. The patient is alert with normal vitals. Which action is most appropriate?

    1. A. Monitor closely, tell the nurse, and document the actual dose
    2. B. Record 25 mcg so that the chart matches the original order
    3. C. Say nothing unless the patient's breathing starts to slow
    4. D. Ask your partner to document the dose in the chart instead
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Monitor closely, tell the nurse, and document the actual dose

    Monitor for respiratory depression and keep naloxone ready, disclose the error to the receiving team, document the dose actually given, and report it through quality channels. Recording the ordered dose instead is falsification. Waiting for harm withholds information the next providers need. Shifting documentation to a partner hides the error.

35. Liability for equipment failure generally rests with:

    1. A. No one, since failures are accidents
    2. B. Depends on the cause of the failure
    3. C. Always the receiving hospital
    4. D. Always the paramedic using it
    Show answer

    Answer: B. Depends on the cause of the failure

    The manufacturer, agency, or provider may be liable depending on cause and maintenance. Failure to check equipment shifts responsibility to the crew.

36. Driving-related liability in EMS most often involves:

    1. A. Traffic tickets issued during responses
    2. B. Crashes without due regard for others
    3. C. Delays caused by getting lost
    4. D. Choosing a longer route to the hospital
    Show answer

    Answer: B. Crashes without due regard for others

    Most involve emergency response. Vehicle operation is a major source of claims. Traffic tickets and wrong turns are rarely the source of claims; crashes are.

37. A paramedic's personal liability insurance:

    1. A. Follows the individual, not the employer
    2. B. Replaces the employer's coverage
    3. C. Is required by law for all paramedics
    4. D. Is never needed by employed providers
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Follows the individual, not the employer

    Employer coverage protects the employer first.

38. Which statement about risk management is accurate?

    1. A. It is only for agency administrators
    2. B. It replaces the need for insurance
    3. C. It eliminates the possibility of lawsuits
    4. D. It reduces sources of harm and claims
    Show answer

    Answer: D. It reduces sources of harm and claims

    It works through policy, training, and review. Every provider participates.

39. The legal concept of foreseeability asks whether:

    1. A. Harm actually occurred to the patient
    2. B. A protocol existed for the situation
    3. C. The patient consented to the treatment
    4. D. A prudent provider would foresee the risk
    Show answer

    Answer: D. A prudent provider would foresee the risk

    Failure to anticipate predictable complications may be breach.