Certified Hyperbaric Technologist Test Hyperbaric Emergency Medicine 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A patient with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning is treated with HBO primarily to:
- Increase carboxyhemoglobin levels
- Accelerate elimination of CO and reduce reperfusion injury (Correct answer)
- Lower the patient's body temperature
- Induce controlled nitrogen narcosis
Correct answer: Accelerate elimination of CO and reduce reperfusion injury
HBO drastically shortens the half-life of carboxyhemoglobin and limits neurologic injury.
Question 2: A claustrophobic patient panics during compression and demands to exit. The best initial technologist response is to:
- Ignore the request and continue to depth
- Stop or slow compression, communicate calmly, and reassure the patient (Correct answer)
- Immediately decompress to surface at maximum rate
- Sedate the patient without physician orders
Correct answer: Stop or slow compression, communicate calmly, and reassure the patient
Pausing compression and providing calm reassurance often resolves anxiety without aborting treatment.
Question 3: Pneumothorax developing during decompression is dangerous because the trapped gas will:
- Shrink and resolve on its own
- Expand as ambient pressure decreases, risking tension pneumothorax (Correct answer)
- Convert to liquid
- Have no effect on the lungs
Correct answer: Expand as ambient pressure decreases, risking tension pneumothorax
Per Boyle's law, gas expands as pressure falls, which can produce a life-threatening tension pneumothorax.
Question 4: Why is an untreated pneumothorax generally considered a contraindication to hyperbaric treatment?
- Oxygen cannot reach the lungs
- Gas in the pleural space expands on decompression and may collapse the lung (Correct answer)
- It increases nitrogen narcosis
- It causes immediate seizure
Correct answer: Gas in the pleural space expands on decompression and may collapse the lung
Expanding pleural gas during decompression can cause tension pneumothorax and cardiovascular collapse.
Question 5: During treatment a patient complains of severe ear pain during compression. The technologist should:
- Continue compressing faster to push through
- Halt or slow compression and coach equalization (Valsalva/swallowing) (Correct answer)
- Decompress fully and cancel all future treatments
- Apply suction to the ear
Correct answer: Halt or slow compression and coach equalization (Valsalva/swallowing)
Pausing compression and coaching middle-ear equalization prevents barotrauma to the tympanic membrane.
Question 6: A sudden hyperbaric medical emergency requires the chamber team to prioritize which of the following first?
- Documentation of the event
- Patient airway, breathing, and circulation while maintaining chamber safety (Correct answer)
- Calling the manufacturer
- Cleaning the chamber
Correct answer: Patient airway, breathing, and circulation while maintaining chamber safety
Basic life support priorities (ABCs) guide the immediate response within the constraints of chamber safety.
Question 7: Hypoglycemia is a recognized in-chamber emergency for diabetic patients largely because HBO can:
- Raise blood glucose significantly
- Lower blood glucose levels during treatment (Correct answer)
- Have no metabolic effect
- Cause permanent insulin resistance
Correct answer: Lower blood glucose levels during treatment
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment can reduce blood glucose, so diabetic patients are monitored before and after sessions.
Certified Hyperbaric Technologist Test Hyperbaric Emergency Medicine 3
A patient with suspected carbon monoxide poisoning is treated with HBO primarily to: