NFST NFST Situational Judgment and Decision Making 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: You are assigned to search a smoke-filled room and become disoriented. What is the correct action?
- Remove your mask for a moment to get a better look around
- Activate your PASS device, stay low, and follow your hose line or wall to exit (Correct answer)
- Stand up to get above the smoke layer
- Call out verbally and wait in place indefinitely
Correct answer: Activate your PASS device, stay low, and follow your hose line or wall to exit
When disoriented in a smoke-filled environment, a firefighter should activate their PASS device, stay low, and use a hose line or wall as a guide to exit.
Question 2: A bystander at a fire scene begins to interfere with firefighting operations. What is the best response?
- Ignore them and continue operations
- Physically restrain the bystander
- Calmly but firmly direct them to a designated safe area and request law enforcement if needed (Correct answer)
- Stop operations until the bystander leaves voluntarily
Correct answer: Calmly but firmly direct them to a designated safe area and request law enforcement if needed
Bystanders must be safely redirected away from operations using calm direction, with law enforcement requested if they refuse to comply.
Question 3: You are asked by a supervisor to do something you believe violates department safety policy. What should you do?
- Comply immediately — supervisors always have authority
- Refuse to act and walk away from the scene
- Voice your concern clearly to the supervisor; if overruled, follow the chain of command to escalate (Correct answer)
- Perform the task but tell colleagues about it later
Correct answer: Voice your concern clearly to the supervisor; if overruled, follow the chain of command to escalate
Safety concerns must be voiced directly to the supervisor, and if unresolved, escalated through the proper chain of command.
Question 4: During a structure fire, your incident commander gives an evacuation order. You believe there is still a victim inside. What should you do?
- Stay inside and continue searching regardless of the order
- Evacuate immediately and report your concern to the IC at the exit (Correct answer)
- Ignore the order and send your partner out while you search alone
- Wait 60 seconds then decide on your own whether to leave
Correct answer: Evacuate immediately and report your concern to the IC at the exit
Emergency evacuation orders must be followed immediately; report victim intelligence to the incident commander upon exiting so they can reassess tactics.
Question 5: You respond to a vehicle accident and find a patient pinned with fuel leaking from the vehicle. What is the first priority?
- Begin patient extraction immediately
- Control ignition sources and establish a safety perimeter before approaching (Correct answer)
- Wait for hazmat before doing anything
- Apply water directly to the patient to prevent burns
Correct answer: Control ignition sources and establish a safety perimeter before approaching
A fuel leak creates an ignition risk, so the first priority is eliminating ignition sources and establishing a safety perimeter before patient access.
Question 6: A citizen calls the fire station to complain about a crew member's behavior during an emergency response. What is the appropriate course of action?
- Dismiss the complaint since the crew was busy with an emergency
- Listen respectfully, document the complaint, and forward it to your supervisor per department policy (Correct answer)
- Tell the citizen the firefighter was following orders and there is nothing to discuss
- Offer your personal opinion on whether the crew member acted appropriately
Correct answer: Listen respectfully, document the complaint, and forward it to your supervisor per department policy
All citizen complaints must be received respectfully, documented accurately, and forwarded through the proper department channels for review.
NFST NFST Situational Judgment and Decision Making 2
You are assigned to search a smoke-filled room and become disoriented.
What is the correct action?