BLS AHA FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS 2026 EXAM
TEST QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔You enter an adult patient's room to provide routine care. Noticing the patient
slumped over in the recliner, you perform a quick visual survey. This includes which of
the following actions? - ✔✔-determining the need for additional resources
-obtaining an initial impression of the patient
-assessing for safety
✔✔An adult patient has stopped breathing but has a pulse. Which action would be
appropriate? - ✔✔Give 1 ventilation every 5 to 6 seconds
✔✔an adult patient who has collapsed is unresponsive. When conducting a rapid
assessment of the patient, you simultaneously check breathing and a carotid pulse for
at least 5 seconds, but no more than - ✔✔10 seconds
✔✔An adult patient is unresponsive. You have opened their airway and are
simultaneously checking for breathing and a pulse. To check for normal breathing,
which actions are appropriate to do? - ✔✔-look to see whether the chest rises and falls
-feel for breathing against the side of your cheek
-listen for escaping air
✔✔You are working with Mr. Henderson in the physical therapy center. He grimaces
and says: " I can't catch my breath." Then he collapses to the ground. You notice he
appears pale and cyanotic. What do you do first? - ✔✔perform the shout-tap-shout
sequence
✔✔Mr. Henderson is unresponsive. After directing Gloria to activate EMS and get an
AED and BVM, you simultaneously check for breathing and a pulse. "One one-
thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand, five one-
thousand..." You note he is not breathing normally but has a pulse. What emergency
condition is Mr. Henderson experiencing? - ✔✔respiratory arrest
✔✔Gloria arrives with the AED and BVM. What intervention should the team perform
next? - ✔✔deliver ventilation
✔✔You stop to check breathing and pulse and clearly state: "I cannot locate a pulse."
You recognize that Mr. Henderson is now experiencing which emergency condition?
You direct Gloria to prepare the AED as you begin CPR, starting with the immediate
delivery of chest compressions followed by ventilations. - ✔✔cardiac arrest
✔✔Duty to Act - ✔✔the duty to respond to an emergency and provide care. Failure to
fulfill these duties could result in legal action
,✔✔Scope of Practice - ✔✔the range of duties and skills you have acquired in training
that you are authorized to perform by your certification to practice.
✔✔Standard of Care - ✔✔The public's expectation that personnel summoned to an
emergency will provide care with a certain level of knowledge and skill
✔✔Negligence - ✔✔Failure to follow a reasonable standard of care, thereby causing or
contributing to injury or damage.
✔✔Refusal of Care - ✔✔A competent patient's refusal of care from a healthcare
provider. Refusal of care must be honored, even if the patient is seriously injured or ill or
desperately needs assistance. A patient can refuse some or all care. If a witness is
available, have the witness listen to any refusal of care, and document it in writing.
✔✔Advanced Directives - ✔✔Written instructions that describe a patient's wishes (or
the wishes of the parent or legal guardian) regarding medical treatment or healthcare
decisions. Guidance for advance directives, including any required identification and
verification process, is documented in state, regional or local laws, statutes and/or
protocols, and must be followed. Advance directives include:
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, also called Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR)
orders.
Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST).
✔✔Battery - ✔✔The unlawful, harmful or offensive touching of a patient without the
patient's consent.
✔✔Abandonment - ✔✔Discontinuing care once it has begun. You must continue care
until someone with equal or more advanced training takes over.
✔✔Confidentiality - ✔✔While providing care to a patient, you may learn details about
the patient that are private and confidential. Do not share this information with anyone
except personnel directly associated with the patient's medical care.
✔✔Consent - ✔✔To obtain consent from an adult patient, follow these steps:
-Identify yourself to the patient or legal guardian.
-State your level of training.
-Explain what you observe.
-Explain what you plan to do.
-Ask for permission from the patient or legal guardian to provide care.
If a patient is unresponsive, has an altered mental status, is mentally impaired or is
unable to give consent verbally or through a gesture, then consent is implied.
**Alert** -Always follow your local laws and regulations as they relate to consent.
See Lesson 4 for information on obtaining consent for children and infants.permission
for something to happen or agreement to do something.
,✔✔Assess, Recognize and Care - ✔✔The concept of Assess, Recognize and Care is a
systematic, continuous approach for rapid assessment, accurate recognition, and
immediate care in emergency situations. Because an acutely ill patient's condition can
change rapidly (for better or for worse), you must continuously assess the patient,
recognize what is happening with the patient and provide care accordingly.
✔✔Assess - ✔✔-perform visual survey
-check for responsiveness
-simultaneously check for breathing and pulse
-determine the need for additional resources (if you see life-threatening bleeding,
immediately use any available resources to control the hemorrhage, including a
tourniquet or hemostatic dressing if one is available
✔✔Recognize - ✔✔The patient may be experiencing a life-threatening emergency. Use
the findings collected during the rapid assessment to quickly recognize whether a life-
threatening emergency is occurring and what condition the patient is experiencing.
Emergencies requiring basic life support may include:
-Injury or illness.
-Respiratory arrest.
-Cardiac arrest.
-Obstructed airway.
-Opioid overdose.
✔✔Provide Care - ✔✔Implement appropriate care based on your understanding of the
patient's condition. Proper care cannot be provided without effective assessment and
accurate recognition of the patient's condition. The care you provide may include:
-Repositioning and monitoring an unresponsive patient who is breathing normally and
has a pulse.
-Delivering ventilations to a patient in respiratory arrest.
-Performing CPR on a patient in cardiac arrest.
-Clearing an obstructed airway.
-Administering naloxone to a patient experiencing an opioid overdose.
✔✔Reassess and Document - ✔✔-After providing care, it is important to reassess the
patient and the effectiveness of your interventions to determine next steps based on
your findings.
-Always document to establish a record of the events that took place, the care you
provided and the facts you discovered.
✔✔Personal protective equipment (PPE) - ✔✔Specialized clothing, equipment and
supplies that prevent direct contact with potentially infectious materials. PPE includes
gloves, CPR breathing barriers, gowns, face shields, protective eyewear and biohazard
bags.
, ✔✔Hand hygiene: - ✔✔Hand washing is the most effective measure to prevent the
spread of infection. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers allow you to clean your hands when
soap and water are not readily available and your hands are not visibly soiled.
✔✔Engineering controls: - ✔✔Objects used in the workplace that isolate or remove a
hazard, reducing the risk of exposure.
✔✔Work practice controls: - ✔✔Methods of working that reduce the likelihood of an
exposure incident by changing the way a task is carried out.
✔✔Applying Standard Precautions - ✔✔-You must wear appropriate personal protective
equipment (PPE) and follow standard precautions for the particular situation.
-Always make sure to review your facility protocols for standard precautions.
-Additionally, maintain good health habits (such as maintaining currency with all
required and suggested immunizations, getting adequate sleep and exercise, and
following a healthy diet) to lower your susceptibility to infection and prevent the spread
of infection to others.
✔✔Proper equipment cleaning: - ✔✔After providing care, the equipment and surfaces
used should always be cleaned and disinfected or properly disposed.
✔✔Proper spill cleanup procedures: - ✔✔If a spill occurs, appropriate measures should
be taken to limit and reduce exposure to possible contaminants.
✔✔Your Role During an Exposure Incident - ✔✔Even with the best use of standard
precautions, exposures do occur. When an exposure incident occurs, follow these steps
as well as any steps outlined by your healthcare facility:
-Wash needlestick injuries, cuts and exposed skin.
-If blood or other body fluids are splashed around the mouth or nose, flush the area with
water.
-If eyes are involved, irrigate with clean water, saline or sterile irrigant solution for 20
minutes.
-Clean the contaminated area thoroughly with soap and water.
✔✔Your Role After an Exposure Incident - ✔✔After the exposure incident has occurred,
it important to:
-Report the incident immediately to the appropriate person identified in your facility's
infection/exposure control plan.
-Write down what happened, including the time, date and circumstances, actions taken
and any other information required by your employer.
-Seek immediate follow-up care according to your facility's infection/exposure control
plan.
✔✔You are about to start your morning rounds, when you hear a loud crash in Mrs.
Bailey's room. When you enter her doorway, you see her lying on the floor with her
TEST QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔You enter an adult patient's room to provide routine care. Noticing the patient
slumped over in the recliner, you perform a quick visual survey. This includes which of
the following actions? - ✔✔-determining the need for additional resources
-obtaining an initial impression of the patient
-assessing for safety
✔✔An adult patient has stopped breathing but has a pulse. Which action would be
appropriate? - ✔✔Give 1 ventilation every 5 to 6 seconds
✔✔an adult patient who has collapsed is unresponsive. When conducting a rapid
assessment of the patient, you simultaneously check breathing and a carotid pulse for
at least 5 seconds, but no more than - ✔✔10 seconds
✔✔An adult patient is unresponsive. You have opened their airway and are
simultaneously checking for breathing and a pulse. To check for normal breathing,
which actions are appropriate to do? - ✔✔-look to see whether the chest rises and falls
-feel for breathing against the side of your cheek
-listen for escaping air
✔✔You are working with Mr. Henderson in the physical therapy center. He grimaces
and says: " I can't catch my breath." Then he collapses to the ground. You notice he
appears pale and cyanotic. What do you do first? - ✔✔perform the shout-tap-shout
sequence
✔✔Mr. Henderson is unresponsive. After directing Gloria to activate EMS and get an
AED and BVM, you simultaneously check for breathing and a pulse. "One one-
thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand, five one-
thousand..." You note he is not breathing normally but has a pulse. What emergency
condition is Mr. Henderson experiencing? - ✔✔respiratory arrest
✔✔Gloria arrives with the AED and BVM. What intervention should the team perform
next? - ✔✔deliver ventilation
✔✔You stop to check breathing and pulse and clearly state: "I cannot locate a pulse."
You recognize that Mr. Henderson is now experiencing which emergency condition?
You direct Gloria to prepare the AED as you begin CPR, starting with the immediate
delivery of chest compressions followed by ventilations. - ✔✔cardiac arrest
✔✔Duty to Act - ✔✔the duty to respond to an emergency and provide care. Failure to
fulfill these duties could result in legal action
,✔✔Scope of Practice - ✔✔the range of duties and skills you have acquired in training
that you are authorized to perform by your certification to practice.
✔✔Standard of Care - ✔✔The public's expectation that personnel summoned to an
emergency will provide care with a certain level of knowledge and skill
✔✔Negligence - ✔✔Failure to follow a reasonable standard of care, thereby causing or
contributing to injury or damage.
✔✔Refusal of Care - ✔✔A competent patient's refusal of care from a healthcare
provider. Refusal of care must be honored, even if the patient is seriously injured or ill or
desperately needs assistance. A patient can refuse some or all care. If a witness is
available, have the witness listen to any refusal of care, and document it in writing.
✔✔Advanced Directives - ✔✔Written instructions that describe a patient's wishes (or
the wishes of the parent or legal guardian) regarding medical treatment or healthcare
decisions. Guidance for advance directives, including any required identification and
verification process, is documented in state, regional or local laws, statutes and/or
protocols, and must be followed. Advance directives include:
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, also called Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR)
orders.
Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST).
✔✔Battery - ✔✔The unlawful, harmful or offensive touching of a patient without the
patient's consent.
✔✔Abandonment - ✔✔Discontinuing care once it has begun. You must continue care
until someone with equal or more advanced training takes over.
✔✔Confidentiality - ✔✔While providing care to a patient, you may learn details about
the patient that are private and confidential. Do not share this information with anyone
except personnel directly associated with the patient's medical care.
✔✔Consent - ✔✔To obtain consent from an adult patient, follow these steps:
-Identify yourself to the patient or legal guardian.
-State your level of training.
-Explain what you observe.
-Explain what you plan to do.
-Ask for permission from the patient or legal guardian to provide care.
If a patient is unresponsive, has an altered mental status, is mentally impaired or is
unable to give consent verbally or through a gesture, then consent is implied.
**Alert** -Always follow your local laws and regulations as they relate to consent.
See Lesson 4 for information on obtaining consent for children and infants.permission
for something to happen or agreement to do something.
,✔✔Assess, Recognize and Care - ✔✔The concept of Assess, Recognize and Care is a
systematic, continuous approach for rapid assessment, accurate recognition, and
immediate care in emergency situations. Because an acutely ill patient's condition can
change rapidly (for better or for worse), you must continuously assess the patient,
recognize what is happening with the patient and provide care accordingly.
✔✔Assess - ✔✔-perform visual survey
-check for responsiveness
-simultaneously check for breathing and pulse
-determine the need for additional resources (if you see life-threatening bleeding,
immediately use any available resources to control the hemorrhage, including a
tourniquet or hemostatic dressing if one is available
✔✔Recognize - ✔✔The patient may be experiencing a life-threatening emergency. Use
the findings collected during the rapid assessment to quickly recognize whether a life-
threatening emergency is occurring and what condition the patient is experiencing.
Emergencies requiring basic life support may include:
-Injury or illness.
-Respiratory arrest.
-Cardiac arrest.
-Obstructed airway.
-Opioid overdose.
✔✔Provide Care - ✔✔Implement appropriate care based on your understanding of the
patient's condition. Proper care cannot be provided without effective assessment and
accurate recognition of the patient's condition. The care you provide may include:
-Repositioning and monitoring an unresponsive patient who is breathing normally and
has a pulse.
-Delivering ventilations to a patient in respiratory arrest.
-Performing CPR on a patient in cardiac arrest.
-Clearing an obstructed airway.
-Administering naloxone to a patient experiencing an opioid overdose.
✔✔Reassess and Document - ✔✔-After providing care, it is important to reassess the
patient and the effectiveness of your interventions to determine next steps based on
your findings.
-Always document to establish a record of the events that took place, the care you
provided and the facts you discovered.
✔✔Personal protective equipment (PPE) - ✔✔Specialized clothing, equipment and
supplies that prevent direct contact with potentially infectious materials. PPE includes
gloves, CPR breathing barriers, gowns, face shields, protective eyewear and biohazard
bags.
, ✔✔Hand hygiene: - ✔✔Hand washing is the most effective measure to prevent the
spread of infection. Alcohol-based hand sanitizers allow you to clean your hands when
soap and water are not readily available and your hands are not visibly soiled.
✔✔Engineering controls: - ✔✔Objects used in the workplace that isolate or remove a
hazard, reducing the risk of exposure.
✔✔Work practice controls: - ✔✔Methods of working that reduce the likelihood of an
exposure incident by changing the way a task is carried out.
✔✔Applying Standard Precautions - ✔✔-You must wear appropriate personal protective
equipment (PPE) and follow standard precautions for the particular situation.
-Always make sure to review your facility protocols for standard precautions.
-Additionally, maintain good health habits (such as maintaining currency with all
required and suggested immunizations, getting adequate sleep and exercise, and
following a healthy diet) to lower your susceptibility to infection and prevent the spread
of infection to others.
✔✔Proper equipment cleaning: - ✔✔After providing care, the equipment and surfaces
used should always be cleaned and disinfected or properly disposed.
✔✔Proper spill cleanup procedures: - ✔✔If a spill occurs, appropriate measures should
be taken to limit and reduce exposure to possible contaminants.
✔✔Your Role During an Exposure Incident - ✔✔Even with the best use of standard
precautions, exposures do occur. When an exposure incident occurs, follow these steps
as well as any steps outlined by your healthcare facility:
-Wash needlestick injuries, cuts and exposed skin.
-If blood or other body fluids are splashed around the mouth or nose, flush the area with
water.
-If eyes are involved, irrigate with clean water, saline or sterile irrigant solution for 20
minutes.
-Clean the contaminated area thoroughly with soap and water.
✔✔Your Role After an Exposure Incident - ✔✔After the exposure incident has occurred,
it important to:
-Report the incident immediately to the appropriate person identified in your facility's
infection/exposure control plan.
-Write down what happened, including the time, date and circumstances, actions taken
and any other information required by your employer.
-Seek immediate follow-up care according to your facility's infection/exposure control
plan.
✔✔You are about to start your morning rounds, when you hear a loud crash in Mrs.
Bailey's room. When you enter her doorway, you see her lying on the floor with her
