Medical Laboratory Technician Exam Laboratory Operations and Safety 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which class of fire extinguisher is appropriate for electrical equipment fires in a clinical laboratory?
- Class A
- Class B
- Class C (Correct answer)
- Class D
Correct answer: Class C
Class C fire extinguishers are designed for electrical equipment fires and do not conduct electricity back to the user.
Question 2: What does the acronym RACE stand for in laboratory fire emergency response?
- Run, Alert, Contain, Evacuate
- Rescue, Alarm, Contain, Extinguish (Correct answer)
- Remove, Activate, Close, Evacuate
- Rescue, Alert, Call, Exit
Correct answer: Rescue, Alarm, Contain, Extinguish
RACE stands for Rescue, Alarm, Contain, Extinguish and provides a standardized sequence for responding to fire emergencies.
Question 3: According to OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogen Standard, which of the following is the primary engineering control to reduce needlestick injuries?
- Double-gloving
- Recapping needles with one hand
- Using sharps containers (Correct answer)
- Wearing face shields
Correct answer: Using sharps containers
Puncture-resistant sharps containers are the primary engineering control mandated by OSHA for safe disposal of needles and sharps.
Question 4: Which biosafety level (BSL) is required for working with agents that can cause serious or potentially lethal disease through respiratory transmission?
- BSL-1
- BSL-2
- BSL-3 (Correct answer)
- BSL-4
Correct answer: BSL-3
BSL-3 is required for agents that may cause serious or lethal disease and are transmitted by the respiratory route, requiring directional airflow and respirator use.
Question 5: A laboratory receives a specimen labeled only with a room number. According to CLSI guidelines, what is the correct action?
- Process the specimen and note the discrepancy
- Reject the specimen and notify the nursing unit (Correct answer)
- Relabel the specimen using the accession number only
- Accept the specimen if the test is STAT
Correct answer: Reject the specimen and notify the nursing unit
CLSI guidelines require that specimens with insufficient identification be rejected to prevent patient misidentification errors.
Question 6: Which regulatory agency in the US enforces laboratory certification under CLIA?
- FDA
- OSHA
- CMS (Correct answer)
- CDC
Correct answer: CMS
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is responsible for enforcing CLIA regulations for all US clinical laboratories.
Medical Laboratory Technician Exam Laboratory Operations and Safety 1
Which class of fire extinguisher is appropriate for electrical equipment fires in a clinical laboratory?