ITLS Triage and Mass Casualty Incidents 3

Question 1

During secondary triage at the treatment area in a MCI, rescuers should:

Accepted Answer

Reassess patients and upgrade or downgrade triage categories as conditions change

Answer

Repeat exactly the same assessment performed during initial field triage

Answer

Focus only on patients previously tagged expectant

Answer

Skip patients already tagged immediate to save time

Question 2

In a MCI involving a hazardous material release, EMS personnel should:

Accepted Answer

Stage in the cold zone and wait for patient decontamination before treatment

Answer

Enter the hot zone immediately to begin triaging patients

Answer

Transport contaminated patients directly to the nearest hospital without delay

Answer

Don standard EMS gloves and treat patients in the warm zone

Question 3

In the START algorithm, if an apneic adult patient does not begin breathing after airway repositioning, the rescuer should:

Accepted Answer

Tag the patient expectant and move to assess the next patient

Answer

Begin CPR immediately with 30:2 compression-to-ventilation ratio

Answer

Tag the patient immediate and provide rescue ventilations before moving on

Answer

Reposition the airway a second time before making a triage decision

Question 4

The 'expectant' triage category is most appropriately applied when:

Accepted Answer

Resources are overwhelmed and a patient's survival probability is extremely low even with treatment

Answer

Unlimited resources are available and all patients can receive treatment

Answer

A patient is confirmed deceased with obvious signs of death only

Answer

A patient verbally refuses triage and treatment on scene

Question 5

Which statement best describes the core ethical principle guiding triage decisions during a mass casualty incident?

Accepted Answer

Do the most good for the greatest number of patients with available resources

Answer

Provide maximum treatment to each individual patient regardless of resource limitations

Answer

Prioritize transport over all on-scene treatment in every MCI situation

Answer

Treat only patients who have the highest probability of 100% recovery

Question 6

During the treatment phase of a MCI, how should available medical resources be allocated among patients?

Accepted Answer

Allocate resources based on patient triage category, prioritizing immediate patients

Answer

Assign one provider per patient regardless of injury severity

Answer

Focus all available resources on expectant patients to attempt to save them

Answer

Treat all patients in the chronological order they arrived at the CCP

Question 7

When should an incident commander request mutual aid during a mass casualty incident?

Accepted Answer

Early in the incident when the scope appears to exceed local capability

Answer

Only after all local resources have been completely exhausted

Answer

Only after receiving hospitals have reached maximum capacity

Answer

After the scene has been fully secured and all patients triaged