Emergency Medical Technician Exam Review

Kirsten (Kirt) Elling is a career paramedic who works for the Town of Colonie in upstate New York. She began EMS work in 1988 as an EMT/firefighter and has been a National Registered paramedic since 1991. She has been an EMS educator since 1990, teaching basic and advanced EMS programs at the Institute of Prehospital Emergency Medicine in Troy, New York. Kirt serves as Regional Faculty for the NYS DOH, Bureau of EMS and the American Heart Association. She has written numerous scripts for the EMS training video series PULSE: Emergency Medical Update. She is also the author and co-author of several books including The EMT-Basic Exam Review & The Emergency Medical Responder Exam Review, Why-Driven EMS Review, and The Paramedic Exam Review. Kirt was also a contributing author of the IPEM Paramedic Lab Manual, and an adjunct writer for the 1998 revision of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, EMT-Paramedic and EMT-Intermediate: National Standard Curricula and the 2007 Paramedic Practice Guidelines.

TIPS FOR PREPARING FOR A PRACTICAL SKILLS EXAMINATION.
SECTION 1. PREPARATORY.
1. Introduction to Emergency Medical Care.
2. Well-Being of the EMT.
3. Medical, Legal, and Ethical Issues.
4. Medical Terminology and Anatomy and Physiology.
5. Principles of Pathophysiology.
6. Life Span Development.
7. Lifting and Moving Patients.
SECTION 2. AIRWAY.
8. Airway Management.
9. Respiration and Artificial Ventilation.
SECTION 3. PATIENT ASSESSMENT.
10. Scene Size-up and Primary Assessment.
11. Vital Signs and Monitoring Devices.
12. Assessment of the Trauma Patient.
13. Assessment of the Medical Patient.
14. Critical Thinking, Decision Making, and Reassessment.
15. Communications and Documentation.
SECTION 4. MEDICAL EMERGENCIES.
16. General Pharmacology.
17. Respiratory Emergencies.
18. Cardiac Emergencies.
19. Diabetic Emergencies and Altered Mental Status.
20. Allergic Reaction, Poisoning, and Overdose.
21. Abdominal Emergencies.
22. Hematologic and Renal Emergencies.
23. Behavioral and Psychiatric Emergencies and Suicide.
SECTION 5. TRAUMA.
24. Bleeding and Shock.
25. Soft Tissue Injuries and Musculoskeletal Trauma.
26. Chest and Abdominal Trauma.
27. Trauma of the Head, Neck, and Spine.
28. Multisystem Trauma.
29. Environmental Emergencies.
SECTION 6. SPECIAL POPULATIONS.
30. Obstetric and Gynecologic Emergencies.
31. Pediatric Emergencies.
32. Geriatric Emergencies.
33. Emergencies for Patients with Special Challenges.
SECTION 7. OPERATIONS.
34. EMS Operations.
35. Highway Safety and Vehicle Extrication.
36. Hazardous Materials, Multiple-Casualty Incidents, and Incident Management.
37. EMS Response to Terrorism.
APPENDIX A. ANSWER KEY WITH RATIONALES.
APPENDIX B.
NATIONAL REGISTRY PRACTICAL EXAM TESTING SHEETS.