Your FREE NREMT Flashcards 2026 – 200+ Cards

100–120 compressions per minute.

At least 2 inches (5 cm); allow full chest recoil.

Basic life support: full assessment, OPA/NPA & BVM, oxygen, CPR/AED, bleeding control & splinting, and a limited drug set — NO IV access, advanced airways, or IV drugs.

EMT = BLS (no IV, no advanced airway); AEMT adds IV/IO, fluids, supraglottic airways & more meds; Paramedic adds intubation, cardiac monitoring/manual defib & most IV drugs.

No. IV/IO access begins at the AEMT level. EMTs provide basic life support only.

No — supraglottic (blind-insertion) airways are AEMT-level. EMTs use OPA/NPA and a bag-valve-mask.

EMR → EMT → AEMT → Paramedic (National EMS Scope of Practice Model).

Basic Life Support — non-invasive emergency care: airway, oxygen, CPR/AED, bleeding control, splinting, and assisting select medications.

Oxygen, oral glucose, aspirin, naloxone, and activated charcoal (per protocol).

The patient's own prescribed nitroglycerin, metered-dose inhaler, and epinephrine auto-injector.

Computer-adaptive test (CAT), 70–120 items, up to 2 hours, pass/fail (no numeric score).

There is no numeric passing score; the CAT decides pass/fail at ~95% confidence vs an entry-level competency standard.

About $104 per attempt (verify current pricing at nremt.org).

2 years; recertify via the National Continued Competency Program (NCCP) CE model + a state license, or retake the exam.

Primary Assessment (39–43% of the exam).

Secondary Assessment (5–9% of the exam).

Offline = written protocols/standing orders; online = real-time orders from a physician by radio or phone.

Medical direction authorizes/oversees care; QI/CQA reviews care after the fact to improve the system.

Emergency Medical Responder — CPR, AED, bleeding control, manual airway, and oxygen; the level below EMT.

Endotracheal intubation, cardiac monitoring/12-lead, manual defibrillation/cardioversion, and most IV medications.

No — cardiac rhythm interpretation is a Paramedic skill. EMTs apply the AED, which interprets the rhythm for them.

No — manual defibrillation is Paramedic-level. EMTs use an automated external defibrillator (AED).

At least 15 days between attempts; 3 attempts per authorization, then a 24-hour remedial refresher is required.

Pearson VUE, at test centers (and online proctoring).

National Continued Competency Program — the CE model for recertifying (national, local, and individual components).

Written protocols that let you perform certain interventions without contacting a physician first (offline medical direction).

Building trust and gathering information through active listening, eye contact, honesty, and a calm, respectful approach.

The emotional toll of disturbing calls; managed with peer support, EAPs, and healthy coping — a wellness topic on the exam.

Scene safety / your own safety — you can't help if you become a patient.

Before reaching the patient: standard precautions (BSI), scene safety, MOI or nature of illness, number of patients, and call for resources.

Body Substance Isolation — gloves on every patient, plus eye protection, gown, and mask for splash, suctioning, or airborne risk.

The forces that caused a trauma patient's injuries (fall height, vehicle speed/damage, penetrating object).

The general type of a medical patient's problem (e.g., chest pain, dyspnea, altered mental status).

Fall over 20 ft (or 3 times the patient's height), ejection, death of another occupant, high-speed crash, rollover, penetrating trauma to head/chest/abdomen.

Do not enter. Stage at a safe distance and request the appropriate resources (law enforcement, fire, utilities) to make it safe.

EARLY — during the size-up, before committing to one patient (extra units, ALS, fire/rescue, air medical).

When the number of patients exceeds the resources on scene; declare it, start ICS, and begin START triage.

Before patient contact, as part of the scene size-up.

Add a mask (and consider eye protection); follow local infection-control protocol.

The anticipation of possible injuries based on the mechanism — drives a rapid trauma assessment even without obvious findings.

The safe area where EMS stages, treats, and command operates.

Stay clear of traffic, fuel/fire, electrical hazards, and unstable vehicles; use a safe approach and PPE.

Stage until law enforcement secures the scene; preserve evidence when you can without compromising care.

Recognize an MCI — request more units, start ICS, and begin triage.

Gloves plus eye protection and a gown — splash is likely.

Wash or use sanitizer after every patient contact, even when gloves were worn.

Use the MOI for trauma, the nature of illness for medical — it shapes your assessment approach.

The decontamination corridor between the hot and cold zones — limited operations with PPE.

The contaminated area of immediate danger — entry only with proper training and PPE; EMTs do not enter.

Where responders rest, rehydrate, and are medically monitored at a prolonged or hazardous incident.

Standard precautions → scene safety → MOI/NOI → number of patients → call for resources.

The rapid first check that finds and treats immediate life threats: general impression + AVPU, then XABC (massive bleeding, Airway, Breathing, Circulation).

Alert, responds to Verbal stimulus, responds to Painful stimulus, Unresponsive.

eXsanguinating (massive) hemorrhage, Airway, Breathing, Circulation — the order of the primary assessment for a bleeding patient.

The immediate sick-vs-not-sick judgment from appearance, work of breathing, and skin color, formed as you approach.

Rate <8 or >24, shallow/irregular effort, poor chest rise, accessory-muscle use, tripod position, cyanosis, 1–2 word sentences, altered mentation.

Assist ventilation with a bag-valve-mask (BVM) and oxygen — not just a mask.

About once every 5–6 seconds (~10–12/min); do not over-ventilate.

Head-tilt/chin-lift.

Jaw-thrust maneuver.

About 15 seconds (less in infants/children).

Unresponsive patient with NO gag reflex.

Decreased LOC with an intact gag reflex; avoid with a suspected basilar skull fracture.

From the corner of the mouth to the earlobe (or angle of the jaw).

From the nostril to the earlobe.

Direct pressure → tourniquet (extremity, high & tight, note the time) → wound packing/hemostatic gauze (junctional).

No. Once applied for hemorrhage control, leave it on and transport.

Tachycardia with anxiety/restlessness and pale, cool, clammy skin — before the blood pressure falls.

The systolic and diastolic values move closer together — an early warning sign of compensated shock.

Falling blood pressure and altered mental status — ominous, late findings.

Control bleeding, high-flow oxygen, keep warm and supine, and transport rapidly.

High-quality CPR + apply the AED as soon as it arrives.

30:2.

About every 2 minutes (or every 5 cycles) to prevent fatigue.

Clear the patient, deliver the shock, then resume compressions immediately.

Under 2 seconds.

Poor general impression, unmanageable airway, inadequate breathing, uncontrolled bleeding/shock, altered mental status, severe pain.

Because an airway, breathing, or circulation problem can kill the patient before you ever reach the secondary exam — treat it the moment you find it.

Slow, gasping, ineffective breaths in/around cardiac arrest — treat as NOT breathing; begin CPR.

Sitting upright, leaning forward on the arms to ease breathing — a sign of respiratory distress.

Using neck/chest/abdominal muscles to breathe — a sign of increased work of breathing.

A bluish skin/mucous-membrane color from poor oxygenation — a late, serious sign.

A high-pitched sound on inhalation signaling upper-airway obstruction (croup, epiglottitis, anaphylaxis, foreign body).

A whistling sound from narrowed lower airways (asthma, COPD).

Carotid (or femoral) — take 10 seconds or less to check for a pulse in a possibly pulseless patient.

Brachial artery.

Color, temperature, moisture (and capillary refill in children).

Raises intrathoracic pressure, lowers cardiac output, and causes gastric distension and aspiration.

Lateral recumbent position for an unresponsive, breathing patient with no trauma — helps keep the airway clear.

15:2.

Upper-right chest and lower-left side; use pediatric pads/dose attenuator for young children if available.

Pulse-checks, AED set-up beyond pad placement, or moving the patient — push hard and fast, minimize pauses.

A palpable pulse returns after arrest; support breathing and perfusion and transport.

Signs/Symptoms, Allergies, Medications, Pertinent past history, Last oral intake, Events leading up.

Onset, Provocation/Palliation, Quality, Region/Radiation, Severity, Time — used to investigate pain.

Deformities, Contusions, Abrasions, Punctures, Burns, Tenderness, Lacerations, Swelling — what to look/feel for in a physical exam.

60–100 beats per minute at rest.

12–20 breaths per minute at rest.

94–100% on room air.

Roughly 90–140 mmHg.

About 100–160 beats per minute.

About 30–60 breaths per minute.

Every 5 minutes.

Every 15 minutes.

Focused = the area of an isolated complaint (stable patient); rapid head-to-toe = significant mechanism, altered mentation, or critical illness.

The TREND across repeated sets — it reveals a patient improving or deteriorating before any single number looks alarming.

Circulation, Motor, and Sensation distal to an injury — checked before AND after splinting.

From family, bystanders, the medications on scene, and medical-alert jewelry.

Pulse, respirations, blood pressure, skin signs, pupils, and oxygen saturation.

Pupils Equal, Round, Reactive to Light — unequal/fixed pupils can indicate a serious brain problem.

What the patient was doing when the symptom started, and whether it began suddenly or gradually.

What makes the symptom better or worse.

How the patient describes the symptom (e.g., crushing, sharp, dull, tearing).

Whether and where the pain travels (e.g., chest pain to the arm or jaw).

The patient's rating of the symptom, often on a 0–10 scale.

The first set of vitals — the reference point you compare every later set against.

Checking for a BP drop / HR rise from lying to standing — a clue to hypovolemia.

About 35–45 mmHg; used in some systems to confirm ventilation.

A differential for altered mental status: Alcohol, Epilepsy, Insulin, Overdose, Uremia, Trauma, Infection, Psychiatric, Stroke.

Scores Eye (4), Verbal (5), and Motor (6) responses, 3 to 15; a score of 8 or less indicates a severe brain injury.

A painful injury that can mask another (e.g., spinal) injury — a reason to maintain spinal precautions.

A relevant symptom the patient denies (e.g., 'no chest pain') — documented because it helps rule things out.

The main reason, in the patient's own words, that EMS was called.

Compare both sides (apices, mid, and bases) for equal, clear breath sounds.

A more thorough head-to-toe exam done en route on a stable patient after the secondary assessment.

1–6 L/min, about 24–44% oxygen — for mild hypoxia in a talking patient.

10–15 L/min, up to about 90% oxygen — for significant hypoxia, patient still breathing adequately.

Up to ~100% with a reservoir at 15 L/min — for inadequate or absent breathing.

At least 94%; titrate the device to the need.

Rest, oxygen only if hypoxic, aspirin 162–324 mg chewed (no allergy/bleed), and assist the patient's own nitroglycerin.

162–324 mg chewed, if no allergy and no active bleeding.

Low systolic BP, a recent PDE-5 inhibitor (e.g., sildenafil), or per local protocol.

Rapid-onset altered mental status, diaphoresis, tachycardia, tremor, slurred speech, sometimes seizures.

Oral glucose between the cheek and gum — only if the patient is awake and can swallow.

No — IV dextrose is AEMT-level. EMTs give oral glucose only.

Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale: facial droop, arm drift, abnormal speech.

The last-known-well time — it determines hospital treatment options.

Intramuscular epinephrine into the lateral thigh (EMT assists the patient's auto-injector / per protocol).

Support ventilation FIRST (BVM + oxygen), then give naloxone and titrate to adequate breathing.

Coach and assist the patient's own metered-dose inhaler (albuterol); give oxygen.

Protect from injury, do not restrain or put anything in the mouth, then protect the airway afterward.

Abdominal thrusts until relieved or the patient becomes unresponsive (then begin CPR).

Head 9%, each arm 9%, each leg 18%, anterior trunk 18%, posterior trunk 18%, genitals 1%.

Stop the burning, remove jewelry/non-adhered clothing, cover with a dry sterile dressing, keep warm — never ice, ointments, or pop blisters.

Singed nasal hair, soot in the mouth, hoarseness, or stridor — anticipate airway swelling.

Seal with an occlusive (vented) dressing; burp it if a tension pneumothorax develops.

Severe dyspnea, absent breath sounds on one side, distended neck veins, hypotension, late tracheal deviation.

Stabilize it in place — do NOT remove it (unless it blocks the airway or chest compressions).

Cover with a moist sterile dressing; never push organs back in.

Immobilize the joint above and below the injury; check distal CMS before and after.

Applied selectively by criteria (e.g., NEXUS), not automatically on every trauma patient.

Tilted onto the LEFT side to avoid supine hypotensive syndrome.

Suspect placenta previa — no vaginal exam, treat for shock, position left side, transport.

Warm, dry, position, stimulate — then assess the heart rate.

Begin positive-pressure ventilation (BVM) — heart rate is the key newborn sign.

Hypoxia — open the airway and oxygenate/ventilate.

Hot skin and altered mental status — a true emergency needing rapid active cooling and transport.

Handle gently (rough movement can trigger V-fib), remove wet clothing, rewarm, and give warm oxygen.

Given only per medical direction for certain ingested poisons; not for caustics, hydrocarbons, or an unprotected airway.

CO falsely reads a normal SpO₂ — give high-flow oxygen and remove the patient from the source.

Use only when necessary, monitored, and per protocol — never prone (positional asphyxia risk).

6–10 L/min, about 40–60% oxygen — moderate hypoxia.

Delivers a precise oxygen concentration — useful for COPD patients.

Two or more adjacent ribs broken in two or more places, causing paradoxical chest-wall motion — support ventilation.

Hypertension with a widening pulse pressure, bradycardia, and irregular respirations — a late sign of rising intracranial pressure.

For an isolated mid-shaft femur fracture (not for joint, lower-leg, or open pelvic injuries).

Major hemorrhage risk — use a pelvic binder, handle gently, and treat for shock.

Pain out of proportion, pallor, and paresthesia in a limb — do not elevate or ice; transport.

Stabilize the object, cover both eyes (to limit movement), and transport.

Irrigate continuously with water/saline from the inner to outer eye, and transport.

Have the patient sit, lean forward, and pinch the soft part of the nose.

Move to a cool place, rest, give fluids if alert and able to swallow, and monitor — can progress to heat stroke.

Do not rub the area or let it refreeze; protect and transport for controlled rewarming.

Suspected infection plus poor perfusion (fever or low temp, fast HR, fast RR, altered mentation) — oxygen, fluids per ALS, rapid transport.

New high BP after 20 weeks with headache/visual changes; eclampsia adds seizures — calm, left-side, transport.

Place mother knee-chest (or hips-up), relieve cord pressure with a gloved hand, give oxygen, and transport rapidly.

Newborn assessment at 1 and 5 minutes: Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration — each 0–2 (max 10).

Pinpoint pupils, respiratory depression, and a decreased level of consciousness.

Severe agitation with hyperthermia — high risk of sudden death; minimize struggle, monitor, and get ALS.

No midline tenderness, no focal deficit, normal alertness, no intoxication, no distracting injury → SMR not required.

Used only for immediate danger, to reach a critical patient, or to access another patient — otherwise use proper body mechanics.

Simple Triage And Rapid Treatment — sorts MCI patients by respirations, perfusion, and mental status.

Ask everyone who can walk to move to one area — they are Green (Minor).

Black (deceased/expectant), Red (immediate), Yellow (delayed), Green (minor).

Breathing >30/min, no radial pulse (or cap refill >2 s), OR cannot follow commands.

JumpSTART.

A mass-casualty incident — one whose needs exceed the resources on scene.

The Incident Command System — the standardized NIMS structure for organizing personnel and resources at an incident.

Hot (contamination), Warm (decontamination corridor), Cold (safe staging/command).

The cold zone — never enter the hot zone without proper training and PPE.

Operating the ambulance safely for others even with lights/sirens; slow at intersections (most crashes) and wear seatbelts.

Permission to treat given by an informed, competent adult.

The legal assumption that an unconscious/incapacitated patient would consent to life-saving care.

From a parent or legal guardian; implied consent covers a true emergency when none is reachable.

A competent adult may refuse, even life-saving care — ensure it is informed and document thoroughly.

Ending care without transferring the patient to a provider of equal or higher training.

An on-duty provider's legal obligation to respond and provide care within their scope.

Duty, breach of duty, damages, and causation (the breach caused the harm).

A legal record that supports continuity of care; must be accurate, objective, and complete.

Protects patient health-information privacy — share only with those involved in care or as the law requires.

Follow a valid Do Not Resuscitate order/advance directive; when in doubt or invalid, begin resuscitation.

Report suspected child/elder abuse and other conditions specified by state law.

Consider for critical, time-sensitive patients with a prolonged ground transport.

Repeating back an order or hand-off to confirm it was heard correctly.

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance (Kübler-Ross) — may appear in patients and families.

Gain access, assess/stabilize, disentangle, and remove — patient care drives the process.

Quickly communicates a patient's priority category to other responders at an MCI.

Patients are reassessed as conditions change — a Yellow can become a Red.

The guiding principle of MCI triage — resources go where they save the most lives.

Hazmat patients are decontaminated in the warm zone before they are loaded for transport.

Battery = unlawful touching (treating without consent); assault = creating fear of harmful contact.

Unlawfully restraining or transporting a competent patient against their will.

May protect off-duty providers acting in good faith within their training — they don't cover gross negligence.

Scope = what your level/state allows; standard of care = what a similarly trained provider would do in the same situation.

Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation — a structured patient hand-off to the receiving staff.

Passing complete, accurate information to the next provider so care isn't interrupted — the goal of a hand-off and PCR.

Reviewing run reports and outcomes to find and fix gaps — improves the whole system over time.

Help requested from neighboring agencies when an incident exceeds local resources.

A safe location where incoming units wait for assignment at a large incident.

One supervisor manages about 3–7 people (ideally 5) to keep an incident manageable.

Most ambulance crashes happen at intersections — slow, clear each lane, and proceed only when safe.

Correct an error with a single line through it, initial it, and write the correction — never erase or obscure.