Paramedics Exam Major Incident Response 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: At a chemical MCI, patients who were exposed but show no symptoms should be directed to which area?
- Immediate treatment sector
- Delayed treatment sector
- Decontamination corridor (Correct answer)
- Casualty collection point only
Correct answer: Decontamination corridor
Asymptomatic exposed patients must go through decontamination before entering treatment areas to prevent secondary contamination of personnel and other patients.
Question 2: During JumpSTART pediatric triage, if a child is apneic after repositioning the airway, the next step is to:
- Tag the child black immediately
- Give 5 rescue breaths and reassess (Correct answer)
- Check for a brachial pulse before tagging
- Place in recovery position and move to next patient
Correct answer: Give 5 rescue breaths and reassess
JumpSTART differs from START by giving 5 rescue breaths to apneic children before tagging black, recognizing children's respiratory-arrest potential for survival.
Question 3: The 'cold zone' at a hazmat MCI is the appropriate location for:
- Decontamination of ambulatory patients
- Command post, staging, and treatment of decontaminated patients (Correct answer)
- Entry team preparation and PPE donning
- Technical rescue operations and victim extraction
Correct answer: Command post, staging, and treatment of decontaminated patients
The cold zone is the safe, uncontaminated area where command, staging, and treatment of already-decontaminated patients occur.
Question 4: A transport supervisor at an MCI is responsible for:
- Performing primary triage on newly arriving patients
- Coordinating ambulance assignments and patient destinations to hospitals (Correct answer)
- Managing the decontamination corridor throughput
- Requesting mutual aid from neighboring agencies
Correct answer: Coordinating ambulance assignments and patient destinations to hospitals
The transport supervisor coordinates which patients go to which hospitals, tracks patient numbers, and manages the flow of ambulances in and out of the scene.
Question 5: During an active shooter MCI (TECC/TCCC model), the Warm Zone is also called the:
- Direct threat care zone
- Indirect threat care zone (Correct answer)
- Evacuation care zone
- Casualty collection point zone
Correct answer: Indirect threat care zone
In Tactical Emergency Casualty Care, the Warm Zone is the indirect threat zone where limited threat exists and care beyond hemorrhage control can be initiated.
Question 6: Which of the following is a PRIMARY goal when establishing hospital notification during an MCI?
- Ensure each hospital receives exactly equal numbers of patients
- Distribute patients based on proximity only, not hospital capability
- Match patient acuity and needs to receiving hospital capabilities (Correct answer)
- Divert all patients to trauma centers regardless of injury type
Correct answer: Match patient acuity and needs to receiving hospital capabilities
Effective MCI hospital notification aims to match patient condition and required resources to the appropriate receiving facility to optimize outcomes.
Question 7: In a radiation exposure MCI, the MOST immediate life-threatening concern for paramedics treating victims is:
- Radiation contamination of EMS personnel from patient contact
- Traumatic injuries from the blast or event causing the radiation release (Correct answer)
- Acute radiation syndrome developing within the first hour
- Radioactive material embedded in patient wounds
Correct answer: Traumatic injuries from the blast or event causing the radiation release
In most radiation MCIs, traumatic injuries from the initiating event (explosion, structural collapse) are immediately life-threatening and take priority over radiation exposure management.
Paramedics Exam Major Incident Response 4
At a chemical MCI, patients who were exposed but show no symptoms should be directed to which area?