V. PAS – Secondary Survey – Patient Exam:

Part 5 of 6: PAS – PATIENT EXAM: What are their injuries?

PRINCIPLES OF THE PATIENT EXAM:
You are trying to discover all possible injuries by:
LOOK:
Inspect:  Is there any bleeding, wounds, impaled objects, or deformities?
Compare:  Are their body parts symmetrical?
LISTEN:
Complaints: Are they complaining of pain or tenderness, if so, isolate where it hurts?
FEEL:
Palpation: Is there tenderness in muscles, bones, or joints?
Circulation:   Are there pulses in all four extremities?
Sensation:   Is there normal sensation in all four extremities?
Motion:   Is there normal range of motion is all four extremities?

ACTION:
Keeping the above principles in mind do a hands on head-to-toe exam:
HEAD:  scalp, face, eyes, ears, nose, mouth.
NECK: cervical spine, trachea.
CHEST: clavicles, gently compress the rib cage.
ABDOMEN: compress the abdomen in all four quadrants.
PELVIS: compress the pelvis front to back and laterally.
ARMS: palpate the muscles and flex the joints.
LEGS: palpate the muscles and flex the joints.
BACK: palpate the length of the back.

This blog is powered by the Wilderness Medicine Newsletter, now celebrating 20 years of publication. The WMN is published and distributed online six times each year by TMC Books, and subscriptions cost as little as $10 per year. To find out more, or to subscribe online, click here.