Basic First Aid Skills Examination Question Bank and Answers

1. What are the compression depth and frequency of adult cardiopulmonary resuscitation? Answer: 5-6cm, 100-120 times/minute

2. What is the adult rescue station for the Heimlich maneuver for airway foreign body obstruction? Answer: Stand behind the patient and put your hands around the patient’s waist

3. What is the first step to use an automated external defibrillator (AED)? Answer: Turn on the phone and follow the voice prompts

4. What is the correct first treatment for adults with superficial second-degree or less burns? Answer: Rinse the wound with running water at room temperature for 15-30 minutes

5. What is the preferred hemostasis method for upper limb arterial bleeding? Answer: Directly compress the bleeding point. If ineffective, additionally apply pressure to the proximal artery of the wound.

6. What should a conscious patient with mild heat stroke take priority? Answer: Light salt water with electrolytes

7. When a single person performs cardiopulmonary resuscitation on an adult, what is the ratio of compressions to artificial respiration? Answer: 30:2

8. After the deep tissue is injured by a rusty iron nail, what should be injected first besides debridement? Answer: Tetanus antitoxin or tetanus immune globulin

9. What is the correct way to transport a patient with suspected spinal fracture? Answer: 3-4 people can support each other, keeping the spine axial level. It is prohibited to hold or carry on one's back by one person.

10. What should be the priority after contact with an open wound of a patient with suspected infectious disease? Answer: Wash the wound with running water + soapy water for at least 5 minutes, then disinfect with iodophor, and seek medical treatment for post-exposure prophylaxis if necessary.

Don’t rush to memorize the answers. Let me make it clear to everyone first: these are universal standard answers, but different certification agencies have different emphasis on test points and even the judgment standards of individual questions. It is easy to get into trouble if you apply them mechanically. I used to work at a local Red Cross first aid test center to help sort out incorrect test questions for half a year. I saw too many people memorize the online question bank, and as a result, points were deducted because they didn't pay attention to the exam attribution system.

For example, there was a student who took the AHA certificate before. He memorized the question bank of the Red Cross Society. When answering the question, he said, "All witnesses should perform compression ventilation according to 30:2 when rescuing people." Points were directly deducted - the AHA guidelines clearly mentioned that ordinary members of the public who have not received professional training should , you can only perform continuous chest compressions without artificial respiration. The standards of both schools are correct, but the applicable scenarios are different. When answering the question, you should clearly see whether there are prerequisites such as "untrained general public" and "rescuers have mastered artificial respiration skills" in the question stem.

There is another test point that is easily controversial: Can toothpaste or soy sauce be applied to burns? The standard answer in the exam is definitely "no". After all, these things have no disinfecting effect and will make subsequent debridement more difficult. But I was chatting with an old doctor in the emergency department before. He said that in the early years when there was a lack of medical care and medicine at the grassroots level, applying mint toothpaste to minor first-degree burns could indeed quickly relieve the pain. However, now that the diagnosis and treatment conditions are better, the exam will not include this special situation in the standard answers. In practice, you can flexibly adjust if you encounter emergencies without clean water. Don't use exam answers to apply to all real-life scenarios.

In addition to the objective questions above, practical questions tend to account for higher scores. I will also give you a few points on common exams, which were the ones that deducted the most points in previous years:

For example, in the CPR practical test, many people either pressed hard enough and the machine alarmed, or they panicked and pressed to more than 7cm, breaking the simulator's rib model. Let me mention here that the European Resuscitation Council's updated guidelines in 2023 have relaxed the upper limit of compression depth to 6.5cm, but the scoring standards for all domestic exams are still stuck at 5-6cm. In practice, it is safest to control it around 5.5cm. There is another detail that many people ignore: the chest must fully rebound after each compression. This point accounts for 15% of the practical score. I have seen at least 20 candidates who almost failed because they kept pressing the chest and the chest did not rebound.

Another example is the actual practice of the Heimlich maneuver. Don’t hug the waist as soon as you come up. Check the age of the simulator first: babies under 1 year old cannot use waist hugging and impact, and must use back tapping + chest impact method. Previously, a young man did not read the premise of "10-month-old baby" in the question, and hugged the waist when he came up. The examiner immediately stopped the whole part. There are also pregnant women and overweight adults who are unable to press the abdomen and must use chest thrusts instead. This test center is almost certain to obtain the Red Cross Certificate.

There is also the practical use of AED. Don’t stick the electrode pads on the body immediately after you get them. Wipe off the water and sweat on the patient’s chest wall first. If there is too much chest hair, shave it off, otherwise the machine will report an error due to poor conductivity. Last time, a candidate directly attached the electrode pads to the wet simulator’s chest wall, and the examiner reminded him three times before he reacted.

Oh, by the way, there is another type of scenario question that has been a popular test topic in the past two years, and many people are prone to get into trouble: For example, "You see someone falling to the ground on the road on a rainy day, what is your first step?" ”Many people answer to do CPR when they come up, completely forgetting that the first step is to confirm the safety of the scene environment - after all, you can't save someone if you are hit by a passing car or step on a leaky wire first, right? In the last exam, there was a girl who didn't pay attention to the premise of "there are fallen wires on the roadside and on the ground on rainy days" in the question stem. She rushed to the simulator and the examiner immediately shouted to stop, and this question was all dismissed.

There are also test points for animal scratches and bites that everyone often asks about, which are included in almost every exam: As long as the skin is broken, regardless of whether the dog or cat is bleeding or biting and has been vaccinated, it is necessary to go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to get the rabies vaccine according to the procedures. Don’t take any chances. Previously, a candidate answered "Domestic cats do not need to be vaccinated if they are vaccinated", and 20 points were directly deducted.

Finally, I would like to say that this list of frequently asked questions is a general one. Test centers in different regions will also have localized test questions. For example, test centers in the Northeast will occasionally test frostbite treatment, and test centers near mountainous areas in the South may test first aid for snake bites. Before preparing for the exam, it is best to ask the local certification authority about the focus of the test, and don’t memorize it. Don’t panic when you really have to take the exam. The first aid exam essentially tests the logic of “preserve safety first, then save others.” If you answer the questions along this line, you can get most of the questions right even if you haven’t memorized them.