CPC Respiratory Assessment and Management

Question 1

A community paramedic auscultates a patient's lungs and hears high-pitched, continuous musical sounds on expiration. These sounds are MOST consistent with:

Accepted Answer

Wheezes

Answer

Wheezes are high-pitched, continuous, musical breath sounds caused by air passing through narrowed airways. They occur most prominently on expiration and are characteristic of asthma, COPD exacerbation, and bronchospasm.

Question 2

A community paramedic performs a pulse oximetry reading on a patient with COPD and records SpO2 of 88%. The patient is asymptomatic at rest. Per standard COPD management guidelines, what is the appropriate oxygen saturation TARGET for this patient?

Accepted Answer

Titrate oxygen to maintain SpO2 88–92%

Answer

For COPD patients, oxygen should be titrated to maintain SpO2 88–92% (target 90%). High-flow oxygen may suppress hypoxic drive and cause hypercapnic respiratory failure in CO2-retaining patients.

Question 3

The Modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) dyspnea scale classifies a patient who reports breathlessness only with strenuous exercise as which grade?

Accepted Answer

Grade 0

Answer

mMRC Grade 0: breathless only with strenuous exercise. Grade 1: breathless when hurrying on level ground or up a slight hill. Grade 2: walks slower than peers due to breathlessness. Grades 3–4 indicate severe functional limitation.

Question 4

A community paramedic conducts a home visit for a patient being managed for pulmonary hypertension. Which finding warrants the MOST urgent escalation?

Accepted Answer

Syncope during minimal exertion

Answer

Syncope with minimal exertion in a pulmonary hypertension patient indicates severely impaired cardiac output and is a WHO functional class IV symptom — a medical emergency requiring immediate evaluation for RV failure, arrhythmia, or hemodynamic collapse.

Question 5

During a COPD home visit, a patient reports their sputum has changed from its usual white/clear color to yellow-green with increased volume. This MOST likely indicates:

Accepted Answer

Acute COPD exacerbation with possible bacterial infection

Answer

Purulent (yellow-green) sputum with increased volume is a hallmark sign of an acute COPD exacerbation, often with bacterial infection, and is one of the three Anthonisen criteria used to guide antibiotic initiation decisions.

(CPC) Community Paramedic Certification Practice Test

(CPC) Community Paramedic Certification Practice Test

CPC Respiratory Assessment and Management