DEPARTMENT OF PARAMEDIC AND EMERGENCY
CARE |HEAD AND SPINE INJURIES EXAMINATION
Traumatic Brain & Spinal Injuries
Comprehensive Competency Assessment (EMT)| Neurological Assessment & Spinal
Immobilization| 2025/2026
An injured brain begins to swell initially due to:
A. intracranial pressure.
B. a coup-contrecoup injury.
C. cerebral edema.
D. an epidural hematoma.
C. cerebral edema
When placing a patient onto a long backboard, the EMT at the patient's _________ is in charge
of all patient movements.
A. head
B. lower extremities
C. waist
D. chest
A. head
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, The frontal and parietal bones of the skull are especially susceptible to:
A. nondisplaced skull fractures.
B. depressed skull fractures.
C. basilar skull fractures.
D. linear skull fractures.
B. depressed skull fractures
During your primary assessment of a semiconscious 30-year-old female with closed head
trauma, you note that she has slow, irregular breathing and a slow, bounding pulse. As your
partner maintains manual in-line stabilization of her head, you should:
A. instruct him to assist her ventilations while you perform a rapid assessment.
B. perform a focused secondary assessment of the patient's head and neck.
C. immediately place her on a long backboard and prepare for rapid transport.
D. apply 100% oxygen via a nonrebreathing mask and obtain baseline vital signs.
A. instruct him to assist her ventilations while you perform a rapid assessment
An epidural hematoma is most accurately defined as:
A. bleeding between the dura mater and brain.
B. an injury caused by a damaged cerebral artery.
C. bleeding between the skull and dura mater.
D. venous lacerations that occur within the brain.
C. bleeding between the skull and dura mater
2|Page
CARE |HEAD AND SPINE INJURIES EXAMINATION
Traumatic Brain & Spinal Injuries
Comprehensive Competency Assessment (EMT)| Neurological Assessment & Spinal
Immobilization| 2025/2026
An injured brain begins to swell initially due to:
A. intracranial pressure.
B. a coup-contrecoup injury.
C. cerebral edema.
D. an epidural hematoma.
C. cerebral edema
When placing a patient onto a long backboard, the EMT at the patient's _________ is in charge
of all patient movements.
A. head
B. lower extremities
C. waist
D. chest
A. head
1|Page
, The frontal and parietal bones of the skull are especially susceptible to:
A. nondisplaced skull fractures.
B. depressed skull fractures.
C. basilar skull fractures.
D. linear skull fractures.
B. depressed skull fractures
During your primary assessment of a semiconscious 30-year-old female with closed head
trauma, you note that she has slow, irregular breathing and a slow, bounding pulse. As your
partner maintains manual in-line stabilization of her head, you should:
A. instruct him to assist her ventilations while you perform a rapid assessment.
B. perform a focused secondary assessment of the patient's head and neck.
C. immediately place her on a long backboard and prepare for rapid transport.
D. apply 100% oxygen via a nonrebreathing mask and obtain baseline vital signs.
A. instruct him to assist her ventilations while you perform a rapid assessment
An epidural hematoma is most accurately defined as:
A. bleeding between the dura mater and brain.
B. an injury caused by a damaged cerebral artery.
C. bleeding between the skull and dura mater.
D. venous lacerations that occur within the brain.
C. bleeding between the skull and dura mater
2|Page
