22) Which of the following is NOT part of the treatment for a 15-year-old female who has
swallowed drain cleaner?
A) Call medical control.
B) Administer milk or water.
C) Maintain the airway.
D) Administer activated charcoal.
Objective: 21.5
23) Which of the following is a trade name for activated charcoal?
A) Actifed
B) Charcoal
C) Actidose
D) Mesquite
Objective: 21.5
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24) Which patient would MOST likely benefit from the administration of activated charcoal?
A) Alert 16-year-old female who overdosed on Tylenol®
B) 48-year-old man who attempted suicide by drinking Drano®
C) Unresponsive 28-year-old female who overdosed on sleeping pills
D) 28-year-old male who is suffering from food poisoning after eating eggs contaminated with
salmonella
Objective: 21.5
25) Which patient would most likely benefit from the administration of activated charcoal?
A) 18-year-old patient who is passed out from drinking too much beer
B) 45-year-old patient suffering from organophosphate poisoning
C) 14-year-old female who overdoses on her grandfather’s cardiac medication
D) 8-year-boy who has a headache from carbon monoxide poisoning
Objective: 21.5
26) Why would an EMT give activated charcoal to a patient who overdosed on the medication
Soma?
A) Activated charcoal is the antidote to Soma poisoning.
B) Activated charcoal prevents the patient from vomiting.
C) Activated charcoal coats the intestinal tract, preventing absorption by the body.
D) Activated charcoal binds to the Soma, preventing absorption by the body.
Objective: 21.5
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27) Your patient is a 17-year-old male who is spitting and coughing after swallowing some
gasoline while siphoning from a gas tank. Which of the following should you do first?
A) Administer syrup of ipecac.
B) Insert a Combitube or another blind insertion device, if you are trained to do so.
C) Have the patient drink a glass of milk.
D) Contact medical control.
Objective: 21.6
28) Your patient is a 3-year-old female who has taken an unknown quantity of aspirin. She is
conscious and alert. Which of the following orders is likely to be given by medical control?
A) Administer one to two glasses of milk.
B) Administer activated charcoal.
C) Induce vomiting by placing your finger in the child’s throat.
D) Administer syrup of ipecac.
Objective: 21.6
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29) Your patient is a 7-year-old male who ate an unknown type of mushroom on a dare by his
friends. You should ask all of the following questions except:
A) When did you eat the mushroom?
B) Are there any more of the mushrooms?
C) Why did you eat the mushroom?
D) How much did you eat?
Objective: 21.6
30) Your patient is a 38-year-old male who has taken an overdose of several different
medications and has consumed some household cleaning agents as well. On your arrival, the
patient only responds to painful stimuli, and has a heart rate of 90 beats per minute with a
respiratory rate of 12 breaths per minute. Medical control orders you to give the patient two to
three glasses of milk to drink to dilute the contents of the stomach. Which of the following
actions should you do?
A) Assist the patient in drinking only one glass of milk to reduce the risk of aspiration.
B) Ask medical control if you can substitute water for the milk since water will not damage the
lungs if aspirated.
C) Refuse the order and explain why.
D) Assist the patient in drinking as much of the two to three glasses of milk as he can.
Objective: 21.6
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31) Your patient is a 3-year-old male with a stoma who has swallowed a household cleaner.
Medical direction gives you an order for milk to dilute the stomach contents. Which of the
following is the correct way of carrying out this order?
A) Administer one glass of milk through the stoma.
B) Have the patient drink one glass of milk.
C) Have the patient drink a glass of milk while you plug the stoma to prevent leakage.
D) Refuse the order and explain why.
Objective: 21.6
32) Which of the following statements regarding syrup of ipecac is NOT true?
A) It has an immediate action.
B) It can cause a patient to aspirate stomach contents into the lungs.
C) It removes only about one-third of stomach contents.
D) It causes emesis in all patients with a single dose.
Objective: 21.6
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33) When a poison attaches to the chemical structure of activated charcoal, which of the
following BEST describes this mechanism of action?
A) Absorption
B) Inactivation
C) Incorporation
D) Adsorption
Objective: 21.6
34) Regarding activated charcoal, which of the following is NOT true?
A) Ingestion of strong acids or alkalis is a contraindication to its use.
B) It is an antidote to many poisons.
C) It can reduce the amount of poison absorbed by the gastrointestinal system.
D) It does not work on all poisons.
Objective: 21.6
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35) Which of the following substances may be ordered by medical control to dilute a poison?
A) Milk of magnesia or magnesium citrate
B) Milk or water
C) Milk or milk of magnesia
D) Water with syrup of ipecac
Objective: 21.6
36) Your patient is a 2-year-old conscious male who has swallowed a small quantity of bleach.
Which of the following findings should you evaluate the patient for?
A) Dilated pupils
B) Irregular pulse
C) Irritation in and around the mouth
D) Respiratory depression
Objective: 21.6
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37) Your patient is a conscious 16-year–old female who has ingested an unknown number of
sleeping pills. Which of the following questions is LEAST pertinent to the care of this patient?
A) How much do you weigh?
B) Who do these sleeping pills belong to?
C) Over what period of time did you take the pills?
D) Has anyone tried to treat you with anything?
Objective: 21.6
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38) You are called to the residence of a 78-year-old widow who lives alone with no children. She
was found by neighbors on the floor of the living room. She has fallen and fractured her left
humerus. She is disoriented and responds to verbal stimuli only. She has a blood pressure of
78/40 and a pulse of 48. She has a history of high blood pressure and takes medication for it. She
also takes medication for high cholesterol and a medication to slow down a fast heart rate.
Emergency Medical Responders find the medication bottles in the medicine cabinet and they are
empty. Your partner suspects that she accidentally overdosed on her medications. Do you agree
or disagree?
A) Agree. The vital signs agree with this hypothesis.
B) Disagree. The patient’s vital signs are related to her broken arm.
C) Agree. It is obvious that the broken arm is causing the decreased heart rate.
D) Disagree. The vital signs indicate that she has not taken her medication in several days.
Objective: 21.6
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39) Why should an EMT utilize a local poison control center in managing a poisoning patient?
A) It places any legal liability on the poison control center.
B) They can activate a specialty team to come and treat the patient.
C) It prevents the EMT from having to do training on poisons.
D) They can assist in finding out important information about the poison.
Objective: 21.6
40) Your patient is a conscious 4-year–old female who has ingested a medication prescribed for
her grandfather. To determine appropriate treatment, which of the following information is NOT
necessary to provide to medical control?
A) Patient’s weight and the amount of medication taken
B) Patient’s vital signs and the time the medication was taken
C) Any home remedies attempted by the patient’s family
D) Grandfather’s name and the name of the physician who prescribed the medication
Objective: 21.7
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