I. THE PATIENT ASSESSMENT SYSTEM — Overview

Part 1 of 9: THE PATIENT ASSESSMENT SYSTEM — The First Five Minutes

STOP – SCENE SURVEY: Is the scene safe?Am I safe?
Is everyone else safe?
Is the patient safe?
What happened? (Mechanism of Injury – MOI)
How do you safely approach the victim?
What is your general impression of the situations seriousness?STOP – PRIMARY SURVEY: Are they alive?
A: Approach and Assess – Are they conscious and can they speak?
A: Airway – Do they have an open airway?
B: Breathing – Are they breathing?
B: Breathing – How well are they breathing? 
C: Circulation – Do they have a pulse? 
C: Circulation – Are they bleeding?
D: Deformity – Are they any obvious deformities?
D: Disability – Is their neck or back at risk of injury?
E: Environment – Can they stay where they are?
E: Everyone Else – Is everyone else high and dry and safe?

STOP – SECONDARY SURVEY: How Are They? 
How well are they doing? Vital Signs
What are their injuries? Patient Exam
What is their past medical history? AMPLE History
What is your patient care plan?  SOAPnote

STOP – RESCUE SURVEY: Do we need help?
What is our plan to get help?
Who is going to go to get help?
What do we need to do to protect the patient while waiting for help to arrive?
What do we need to do to protect ourselves while waiting for help to arrive?
Is the scene safe for the group?

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