1. Early recognition and call for help
2. Early CPR
3. Early defibrillation
4. Post resuscitation care
1 of 15
What does ABCDE assessment stand for?
A - airway
B - breathing
C - circulation
D - disability
E - exposure
2 of 15
How do you assess airway?
- Is airway patent?
- Are there any signs of airway obstruction? (listen for stridor, snoring, wheezing, gurgling)
- is the patient talking?
- can they cough effectively?
3 of 15
What are the signs of airway obstruction?
- unable to speak
- wheeze/stridor/gurgling
- change in colour of lips
- swelling of lips
- reduced consciousness
4 of 15
How do you treat an airway obstruction?
1. open airway - head tilt, chin lift
2. oropharyngeal or nasal airway
3. advanced - supraglottic airway device, tracheal tube
4. high flow oxygen
5 of 15
How do you assess breathing?
- look at patient's colour (cyanosis), position and movement of chest
- are they using accessory muscles?
- is breathing paradoxical/see-saw?
- measure oxygen saturations and respiratory rate (give O2 if required)
- are they mouth, purse-lipped breathing?
6 of 15
When assessing breathing you can use RATES. What does this stand for?
R - respiratory rate
A - auscultate chest
T - trachea
E - effort of breathing
S - spo2
7 of 15
How do you treat problems with breathing?
- reposition into an upright positive
- give appropriate prescribed oxygen therapy
- support breathing if inadequate, eg: bag-valve-mask
- help summoned if necessary
- treat underlying cause
8 of 15
How do you assess circulation?
- look for pallor (sign of vasoconstriction), sweating, bleeding/fluid loss
- measure heart rate, blood pressure and capillary refill time (<2 seconds)
- look at urine output (should be >0/5mL/kg/H)
- measure temperature (centrally and peripherally)
- ECG
9 of 15
What does MOVE stand for when assessing circulation?
M - monitors
O - oxygen therapy
V - venous access
E - ECG
10 of 15
How do you treat problems with circulation?
- reposition patient
- if patient is hypovolaemic, consider supine position and elevating legs
- establish IV access
- request medical assessment for fluid administration
- complete an ECG
11 of 15
How do you assess disability?
- look at patient's consciousness level
- can they talk?
- assess level of consciousness using the AVPU or GCS if needed
- look for signs of facial or limb weakness
- access blood glucose (Don't Ever Forget Glucose)
- assess pain using the trapezius squee
12 of 15
What does PQRST stand for when assessing pain?
P - position
Q - quality
R - radiation
S - severity
T - time
13 of 15
How to treat problems with disability?
- if hypoglycaemic and conscious = give oral glucose
- if hypoglycaemic and unconscious = administration 10% or 20% glucose IV, or glucagon 1mg IM
- if hyperglycaemic, consider sliding scale insulin
- protect airway if unconscious
14 of 15
How do you assess exposure?
- maintain dignity
- perform a head to toe assessment
- look for signs of infection, trauma, rashes, swelling, etc. (especially in invasive sites or wounds)
- assess pain
15 of 15
Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
What does ABCDE assessment stand for?
Back
A - airway
B - breathing
C - circulation
D - disability
E - exposure
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