Scene Size-Up & Safety
Upon arriving at a potentially unsafe scene, this is your very first action.
What is ensure that you are safe (scene safety)?
The overall goal of the primary assessment is to identify and rapidly treat these.
What are all life-threatening conditions (life threats)?
The normal respiratory rate range for an adult.
What is 12 to 20 breaths per minute?
An objective condition that can be measured, such as blood pressure or a rash.
What is a sign?
Its three components are appearance, work of breathing, and circulation to the skin.
What is the Pediatric Assessment Triangle (PAT)?
Asking "What's bothering you most today?" is done to determine this.
What is the chief complaint?
You take these before actual patient contact, often before stepping out of your response vehicle. The scene is safe.
What are standard precautions (PPE / BSI)?
This scale — Alert, Verbal, Painful, Unresponsive — tests level of consciousness.
What is AVPU?
When assessing capillary refill in an infant, normal color should return within this time.
What is 2 seconds?
A subjective condition that the patient feels and reports, such as nausea.
What is a symptom?
In an infant younger than 1 year, you palpate a pulse at this location.
What is the brachial artery (brachial pulse)?
In SAMPLE, this letter is established by "I was mowing the lawn when the pain began."
What is E (Events leading up to the illness/injury)?
Determining MOI or NOI at a scene helps you differentiate these two categories of patients.
What are trauma patients and medical patients?
These are the three qualities being assessed when checking a pulse.
What is rate, rhythm, and quality?
In an adult, a pulse rate of 100 beats/min or greater is described by this term.
What is tachycardia?
Conditions the patient does NOT have that help rule out possible causes.
What are pertinent negatives?
This breathing pattern, with the chest and abdomen moving in opposition, is usually observed only in pediatric patients
What is seesaw breathing?
Pain that moves from its point of origin to another body location.
What is radiating pain?
En route to a shooting, dispatch says the perpetrator has fled; you should still do this.
What is confirm the information with law enforcement personnel at the scene?
Formed "from the doorway," it includes appearance and level of distress, but not the patient's race and gender.
What is the general impression?
A patient in unstable condition should be reassessed at least this often.
What is every 5 minutes?
The blue tint noted in the skin of an unresponsive, poorly oxygenated patient.
What is cyanosis?
For an unresponsive 8-month-old who is not breathing, your next action is to assess for a brachial pulse for this long.
What is 5 to 10 seconds?
Bruising behind the ear, noted during the secondary assessment of a trauma patient.
What is Battle sign?
Rapidly assessing a patient's respiratory status is NOT part of this early phase of the call.
What is the scene size-up?
In an unresponsive patient whose collapse was not witnessed and who has no palpable pulse, you do this immediately.
What is immediately begin CPR?
This blood pressure represents the minimum amount of pressure always present in the arteries.
What is the diastolic blood pressure?
The term used to describe a patient with profuse sweating.
What is diaphoretic?
You begin the secondary assessment of a small child using this direction instead of head-to-toe.
What is feet (toe) to head?
The EMT treats for this by keeping the patient warm and providing oxygen.
What is treating for shock?