ABCDE

Question 1

what does ABCDE stand for?

Answer 1

airway

breathing

circulation

disability

exposure

Question 2

what would come under assessing the airway?

Answer 2

1. initial observations
   - pt may self-report symptoms
2. audible signs
   - can’t complete a full sentence in a breath
   - altered voice quality - raspiness
3. visual inspeciton
   - swellings, irritation, injury, foreign body present

Question 3

what comes under the breathing assessment?

Answer 3

1. pulse oximetry
   - continuous monitoring of oxygen saturations and heart rate
   - O2 should be >96%
   - heart rate should be 60-100bpm
2. respiratory rate
   - should be 12-20bpm
3. PEV
   - only required if you suspect asthma
   - pt current/pt normal x100 or see what it is like against the chart

Question 4

whats the low and high risk of hypercapnia with oxygen saturation levels?

Answer 4

low risk - 94-98%

high risk - 88-92%

Question 5

how is circulation assessed?

Answer 5

1. reported symptoms from pt to consider
   - dizziness, short of breath
   - visual/auditory disturbance
2. heart rate/rhythm
   - use radial pulse or carotid
   >100bpm = tachycardic
   <60bpm = bradycardic
   - check for regular rhythm and depth - if it is forceful or a light flow
3. blood pressure - perfect = 120/80
   >220 - critical - call 999 - risk of ACS and stroke
   >180 - high - call 111
   110-180 - normal
   <90 critically low - sign of cardiovascular collapse
4. capillary refill time
   - press on chest wall for 5 seconds
   - count how many seconds it takes to return to normal colour
   = shouldn’t take more than 2 seconds

Question 6

how is disability assessed?

Answer 6

1. AVPU
   - alert, voice, pain, unresponsive
2. capillary blood glucose
   - normal = 4-8mmol/L
3. Pain
   - SOCRATES

Question 7

what does SOCRATES stand for?

Answer 7

site - where is the pain

onset - how did it start

character - what does it feel like

radiates - does pain go anywhere else

associated symptoms - nausea/vom

time - how long

exacerbating factors - anything making it worse/better

severity - 0-10

Question 8

how is exposure assessed?

Answer 8

exposure is to identify any other problems or reinforce findings

. visual inspection
- needs to be justified why you are assessing the pt body
- hypoglycaemia is not justified

2. professional jugement throughout ABCDE