EMT Airway Management Quiz – Level 3 (Advanced)

A 73-year-old male with a history of COPD is found confused and cyanotic. He is breathing 6 times per minute with shallow effort. Lung sounds are diminished. What is your BEST airway intervention?

• Apply CPAP immediately

• Assist ventilations with BVM

• Insert King airway

• Administer bronchodilator by nebulizer

You are ventilating a patient using an iGEL. Suddenly, resistance increases and oxygen saturation drops. You hear wheezing. What should you suspect FIRST?

• Misplaced iGEL

• Bronchospasm

• CPAP failure

• Gastric inflation

A patient with altered mental status has snoring respirations. You apply a head-tilt-chin-lift, but airway noises persist. What is the next best intervention?

• Insert OPA

• Insert NPA

• Begin BVM ventilation

• Apply NRB mask

You place a King airway in a pulseless patient. Chest rise is absent with BVM ventilation. Breath sounds are heard in the epigastrium. What should you do NEXT?

• Increase ventilation pressure

• Recheck cuff inflation

• Remove and reposition King airway

• Begin suctioning

You are ventilating a seizing patient with an NPA in place. Ventilations become harder, and the patient vomits. What should you do?

• Remove NPA and suction airway

• Replace NPA with King airway

• Begin chest compressions

• Apply CPAP

A 50-year-old trauma patient is unresponsive with snoring respirations. You perform a jaw thrust, suction blood from the airway, and ventilate with a BVM. What definitive airway option should be prepared next?

• CPAP

• King airway

• Nasal cannula

• High-flow NRB

You are transporting a patient with a King airway in place. During ventilation, you note gurgling and minimal chest rise. What is your IMMEDIATE action?

• Check for cuff leak and reposition

• Increase oxygen flow

• Switch to CPAP

• Remove the airway completely

A patient in respiratory distress due to CHF is on CPAP. After 5 minutes, you notice rising anxiety, tachypnea, and poor mask tolerance. SpO2 is 90%. What should you do?

• Discontinue CPAP and switch to BVM

• Continue CPAP and increase flow

• Administer a sedative

• Insert a King airway

Your iGEL placement was initially successful. After a sudden drop in saturation, you hear air escaping from the mouth during ventilation. What should you do?

• Reinsert iGEL deeper

• Apply CPAP

• Reposition and reseal the iGEL

• Intubate the patient

A 65-year-old female with asthma is in respiratory failure. She is unresponsive to CPAP and has worsening effort despite medications. What should you prepare to do NEXT?

• Insert OPA and apply NRB

• Assist with BVM, then prepare advanced airway

• Apply NPA and continue CPAP

• Place her in recovery position and monitor