Paramedic Care: Principles & Practice, 4th edition

Bledsoe/ Porter/ Cherry

Volume 1 Introduction to Paramedicine

Chapter 6 Public Health

1) The science and practice of protecting and improving the health of a community through the
use of preventive medicine is known as:
A) Public health
B) Epidemiology
C) Primary prevention
D) Injury risk

2) The branch of medicine that deals with the incidence and prevalence of disease in large
populations is known as:
A) Tertiary prevention
B) Injury surveillance
C) Epidemiology
D) Field investigation

3) The intentional or unintentional damage to a person resulting from acute exposure to thermal,
mechanical, electrical, or chemical energy is:
A) Injury risk
B) Injury surveillance
C) Health damage
D) Injury

4) A(n) ___________ is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of injury
data essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice.
A) Injury surveillance program
B) Primary prevention program
C) Injury risk program
D) Epidemiological program

5) Which one of the following roles does EMS have in public health when providing health care
screenings and vaccinations, providing health education, and targeting high-risk populations in
an effort to ensure that they are receiving needed medical care?
A) Disease surveillance
B) Disaster management
C) Injury prevention
D) Health promotion

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6) Common strategies that include child safety seat classes, bicycle safety training, drunk driving
education programs, smoking prevention, and swimming pool safety programs fall under which
public health role of EMS?
A) Health promotion
B) Injury prevention
C) Policy development
D) Disease surveillance

7) Which of the following is NOT a category within public health laws?

A) Laws that give public health officials the necessary legal tools to perform their jobs
B) Laws allowing public health entities to act in the general interest of the public
C) Laws that deal with the incidence and prevalence of disease in large populations
D) Laws giving public health agencies power to use epidemiological tools to analyze legal issues

8) How has public health improved both the quality of life and the life span of humankind?
A) Through research
B) Through epidemiology
C) Through surveillance
D) All of the above

9) In order to link its EMS and public health systems, a community must have which of the
following in place?
A) Strong medical oversight over just the EMS system
B) Stakeholders having a role in the planning process
C) Disaster plans that are drilled and developed at the state level
D) A desire to only educate the public health providers

10) A calculation made by subtracting the age at death from 65 is one concept of:
A) Analytic studies
B) Illness prevention
C) Epidemiology
D) Linkage

11) Which of the following is NOT a category of intentional injury?

A) Rape
B) Suicide
C) Accident
D) Abuse

12) A(n) _____________occurs shortly after an injury and is when a patient may be more
receptive to learning about how a similar injury can be prevented in the future.
A) Teachable moment
B) Injury surveillance
C) Field investigation
D) Analytic study

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13) Epidemiologically speaking, an ongoing process that determines the effectiveness,
efficiency, and impact of activities related to public health initiatives is called:
A) Linkage
B) Evaluation
C) Policy development
D) Field evaluation

14) A(n) ____________ program must also include a component for the timely dissemination of
data to those who need to know.
A) Injury surveillance
B) Primary prevention
C) Field investigation
D) Unintentional injury

15) Which of the following is an example of how EMS providers can be involved in community
injury prevention?
A) Transporting an unconscious trauma patient to a level 1 center
B) Performing CPR on an elderly patient in cardiac arrest
C) Participating in a high school drunk driving crash scenario
D) Being an advocate to attain the latest technology and equipment

16) What is required from EMS providers at every level for any prevention program to succeed?
A) They must instruct others in the fundamentals of primary prevention.
B) They must understand the need for involvement in prevention activities.
C) They must participate in all continuing education activities offered in their system.
D) They must know all the different types of on-scene survival techniques.

17) When developing and measuring the success of prevention programs, each EMS agency
should contribute data to all of the following agencies, EXCEPT:
A) Local
B) International
C) Federal
D) State

18) The ultimate factor in achieving success in an EMS prevention program lies in the hands of:
A) Frontline personnel
B) EMS managers
C) Medical directors
D) Community leaders

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19) The guidelines of ___________ outlines how employers and employees share responsibility
for ensuring that standard precautions are used to assist in preventing contamination from blood
and other bodily fluids.
A) HIPAA
B) AHA
C) AMA
D) OSHA

20) Which of the following is NOT part of the commitment that an EMS provider needs to have
to prevent illness and injury?
A) Parking the unit in the safest place to load the patient, then directing traffic
B) Being familiar with local and state traffic laws and obeying them
C) Consistently incorporating exercise and a health-minded attitude into his life
D) Knowing his limits and taking time out to relax when necessary

21) What tends to be the first body part that is injured in a pediatric patient during a motor
vehicle collision?
A) Chest
B) Head
C) Abdomen
D) Neck

22) What is the most common mechanism of injury for children younger than 6 years old?
A) Firearms
B) Abuse and assault
C) Motor vehicle collision
D) Falls

23) What is the biggest preventable injury in the geriatric population?

A) Falls
B) Firearms
C) Accidental overdose
D) Abuse

24) Almost one-quarter of all the public workplace injuries occurs to all of the following body
areas, EXCEPT:
A) The back
B) The eyes
C) The feet
D) The hands

25) Which of the following can lead to a medication-related illness/injury?

A) Following the medication directions of the pharmacist
B) Taking only 7 of the 10 prescribed antibiotic pills
C) Only seeking prescriptions from an urgent care facility
D) Refilling a medication two days prior to the expiration date

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26) The community issue that may require EMS assistance in developing a prevention program
is:
A) Epidemiological research
B) Financial support
C) Recognizing scene hazards
D) Early discharge of a patient

27) A hazardous or potentially hazardous situation that puts people in danger of sustaining injury
best defines which of the following?
A) Injury risk
B) Injury surveillance
C) Injury
D) Accident

28) Certain situations, such as epidemics and disasters, call for which of the following actions?
A) Public health law research program
B) Epidemiological research
C) Public health agency police powers
D) Illness and prevention laws

29) Which of the following is one of the components that must be in place for EMS and public
health to work together?
A) Strong medical oversight
B) Legislative doctrines
C) Educating the community about EMS
D) Passive pursuit of finances

30) Which of the following is NOT a prevention strategy that EMS personnel should be able to
implement?
A) Preserve the safety of the response team
B) Policing powers
C) Document findings
D) Knowing the community resources

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