EMD EMD Roles and Responsibilities 3

Question 1

The medical director's primary role in an EMD system is to:

Accepted Answer

Provide medical oversight and authorize the protocols used by EMDs

Answer

Take over dispatch duties during mass casualty events

Answer

Train all field EMS personnel in clinical skills

Answer

Answer overflow calls when dispatchers are overwhelmed

Question 2

Quality Assurance (QA) in an EMD center primarily involves:

Accepted Answer

Reviewing recorded calls to ensure protocol adherence and identify improvement areas

Answer

Upgrading communications equipment on a regular schedule

Answer

Reducing the total number of emergency calls received each shift

Answer

Hiring additional dispatchers during high-call-volume periods

Question 3

EMD certification typically requires:

Accepted Answer

Completion of an approved EMD training course and ongoing continuing education

Answer

A minimum of five years of field paramedic experience

Answer

A four-year degree in emergency management

Answer

On-scene emergency response experience as the sole prerequisite

Question 4

Which best describes an EMD's legal responsibility when it comes to protocol use?

Accepted Answer

Deviating from approved protocols without documented justification can create legal liability

Answer

EMDs may substitute personal judgment for protocols during busy shifts

Answer

Protocols are advisory only and carry no legal weight

Answer

Legal responsibility rests solely with the medical director, not the individual EMD

Question 5

The 'priority dispatch' system was developed primarily to:

Accepted Answer

Systematically categorize emergencies and allocate the most appropriate response level

Answer

Allow dispatchers to personally decide which calls deserve a response

Answer

Enable dispatchers to provide hospital route directions to callers

Answer

Replace EMD training requirements with an automated answering system

Question 6

Regarding patient confidentiality, EMDs must:

Accepted Answer

Protect patient health information in accordance with HIPAA regulations

Answer

Share all call details with any law enforcement agency that requests them

Answer

Post incident summaries publicly to promote community safety awareness

Answer

Provide full patient records to media outlets when requested

Question 7

When a caller does not speak English, an EMD should:

Accepted Answer

Use an approved interpreter service or language line to communicate

Answer

Terminate the call and route it to a bilingual dispatcher only

Answer

Attempt to communicate using phonetically described gestures

Answer

Transfer the call directly to the nearest hospital switchboard