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Assessment & Critical Care · Chapter 7 Not started
Patient Assessment
The systematic sequence — scene size-up through ongoing assessment — that catches life threats first.
Key points
- Assessment order: scene size-up → primary assessment → history → secondary assessment → vitals → reassessment. Life threats found in the primary are fixed immediately.
- Primary assessment checks responsiveness (AVPU), airway, breathing, circulation with major-bleeding control, and forms a transport priority decision.
- SAMPLE structures the history: Signs/symptoms, Allergies, Medications, Pertinent past history, Last intake, Events leading up.
- OPQRST explores a complaint: Onset, Provocation, Quality, Radiation, Severity, Time.
- DCAP-BTLS guides the hands-on exam: Deformities, Contusions, Abrasions, Punctures, Burns, Tenderness, Lacerations, Swelling.
- Reassess: every 5 minutes for unstable patients, every 15 for stable — trends in vitals tell you more than any single reading.
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