ATLS Pretest | Questions and Verified
Answers (2023/2024 Update)
1. A trauma patient presents to your emergency department with inspiratory stridor
... [Show More] and a
suspected c-spine injury. Oxygen saturation is 88% on high-flow oxygen via a
nonrebreathing mask. The most appropriate next step is to:
✓ Answer: restrict cervical motion and establish a definitive airway
2. When applying the Rule of Nines to infants:
✓ Answer: The head is proportionally larger in infants than in adults.
3. A healthy young male is brought to the emergency department following a motor vehicle
crash. His vital signs are a blood pressure of 84/60, pulse 123, GCS 10. The patient
moans when his pelvis is palpated. After initiating fluid resuscitation, the next step in
management is:
✓ Answer: placement of a pelvic binder
4. Which one of the following situations requires Rh immunoglobulin administration to an
injured woman?
✓ Answer: positive pregnancy test, Rh negative, and has torso
trauma
5. A 22-year-old female athlete is stabbed in her left chest at the third interspace in the
anterior axillary line. On admission to the emergency department and 15 minutes after the
incident, she is awake and alert. Her heart rate is 100 beats per minute, blood pressure
80/60 mm Hg, and respiratory rate 20 breaths per minute. A chest x-ray reveals a large
left hemothorax. A left chest tube is placed with an immediate return of 1600 mL of
blood. The next management step for this patient is:
✓ Answer: prepare for an exploratory thoracotomy
6. A 6-year-old boy walking across the street is struck by the front bumper of a sports utility
vehicle traveling at 32 kph (20 mph). Which one of the following statements is TRUE
about this patient?
✓ Answer: A pulmonary contusion may be present in the absence of
rib fractures.
7. A 22-year-old man is hypotensive and tachycardic after a shotgun wound to the left
shoulder. His blood pressure is initially 80/40 mm Hg. After initial fluid resuscitation his
blood pressure increases to 122/84 mm Hg. His heart rate is now 100 beats per minute
and his respiratory rate is 28 breaths per minute. A tube thoracostomy is performed for
decreased left chest breath sounds with the return of a small amount of blood and no air
leak. After chest tube insertion, the most appropriate next step is:
✓ Answer: re-examine the chest
8. A construction worker falls two stories from a building and sustains bilateral calcaneal
fractures. In the emergency department, he is alert, vital signs are normal, and he is
complaining of severe pain in both heels and his lower back. Lower extremity pulses are
strong and there is no other deformity. The suspected diagnosis is most likely to be
confirmed by:
✓ Answer: complete spine x-ray series [Show Less]