PMT pretests

ACLS basic test

This test covers some ACLS basics. This material is generally presented and explained within the first part of a classroom course or within the first few chapters of an ACLS textbook.

Note: Answers to this test are available here.

1. To stop a patient developing cardiac arrest and to improve their outcome (when the patient is in a hospital), the recommended course of action is to recognize a critical situation as early as possible and to activate a _______________ ____________ __________.

2. If a patient has a systolic blood pressure reading between 120 and 139 mm Hg OR a diastolic blood pressure reading between 80 and 89 mm Hg, then the patient is considered to have what?

3. All of the following statements about adult CPR with two rescuers are false except:

  1. Pause the CPR compressions to give a breath every three to five seconds.

  2. The correct compression to ventilation ratio is fifteen to two.

  3. When switching roles for compression and ventilation, it should take no more than five seconds if possible.

  4. Before using an AED to examine the heart rhythm of the patient, administer CPR to the patient for at least five minutes.

4. Situation: There is an elderly man in cardiac arrest. He is 78 years old. He is being treated with CPR, but no IV line has been established yet.

In this situation, IV cannulation during the chest compressions would ideally be done at which of the following locations:

  1. Jugular veins (external or antecubital)

  2. Jugular veins (internal or external)

  3. Jugular veins (femoral or internal)

  4. Veins (subclavian or antecubital)

5. One of the following memory aids is designed for use in evaluating the responsiveness of a patient. Which one is it?

  1. ABCD

  2. AVPU

  3. OPQRST

  4. NAVEL

6. During the process of establishing an IV line in CPR, which of the following statements is true:

  1. Some of the medications should be administered by intramuscular injection instead of IV.
  2. 20-mL of IV fluid should be used as a flush after IV drugs administered by bolus injection.
  3. Instead of targeting peripheral veins, the focus should be on accessing the central venous circulation.
  4. During a cardiac arrest situation, the preferred solution is five percent dextrose/water.

7. Which of the following cardiac arrest rhythms are considered shockable:

  1. Ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation.
  2. Pulseless and asystole electrical activity.
  3. Ventricular tachycardia and asystole.
  4. Ventricular fibrillation and pulseless electrical activity.

8. In the primary or initial ABCD survey, what does the "D" stand for?

  1. Defibrillation
  2. Disability
  3. Decision
  4. Differential diagnosis

9. To improve perfusion pressures, administer drugs during cardiac arrest that affect blood vessels in what way?

  1. Constrict
  2. Dilate

10. What role does the establishment of vascular access play in the following surveys?

  1. "D" in the primary survey.
  2. "B" in the secondary survey.
  3. "C" in the secondary survey.
  4. "A" in the primary survey.

View the answers to this test here.

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