ATLS Flashcards
What are the ABCDE’s of trauma care of the Primary survey ?
Airway with restriction of cervical spine motion
Breathing and ventilation
Circulation and hemorrhage control
Disability (assessment of neurologic status)
Exposure/Environmental control
What is the A,B,C’s -10-second assessment about?
- Identifying themselves
- Asking the pt name
- asking what hapened
What are some injuries that can impair ventilation in short term and that need to be identify in the Primary survey?
- Tension Pneumothorax
2.Massive hemothorax - Open pneumothorax
- Tracheal/bronchial injuries
Remember: there are other injuries that can be identified in secondary survey and that not compromise the life.
What are some injuries that need to be identified while assessing the airway?
- Foreign bodies
- Identifying facial, mandibular, and/or tracheal/laryngeal fractures
- Other
What is a flail chest?
Flail chest is defined as two or more contiguous rib fractures with two or more breaks per rib
What are the 3 components to consider in the circulation assessment during the primary survey?
- Blood Volume
- Cardiac Output
- Bleeding
What is the predominant cause of preventable
deaths after injury?
Hemorrhage
What are the 3 clinical components to assess during circulation in the primary survey?
- Level of consciousness
- Skin perfusion
- Pulse
What are the elements of the initial assessment ?
- Preparation
- Triage
- Primary survey (ABCDE’s)
- Adjuncts to the primary survey and resuscitation
- Consideration of the need for patient transfer
- Secondary survey (head-to-toe evaluation and patient history)
- Adjuncts to the secondary survey
- Continued postresuscitation monitoring
- Definitive care
What does the Secondary Survey is compound of?
- History
- Physical Examination
What is the AMPLE history mnemonic stands for?
- Allergies
- Medications currently used
- Past illnesses/Pregnancy
- Last meal
- Events/Environment related to the injury
What are the 3 general mechanisms of injury?
- Blunt Injury
- Penetrating Injury
- Thermal Injury
What are the different types of blunt injury?
- Frontal impact, automobile collision
- Side impact, automobile collision
- Rear impact, automobile collision
- Ejection from vehicle
- Motor vehicle impact with pedestrian
- Fall from height
What are the types of penetrating injury?
- Stab wounds
- Gunshot wounds (GSW)
What are types of Thermal Injury?
- Thermal burns
- Electrical burns
- Inhalational burns
What is the sequence for the physical examination in the second survey?
- Head
- Maxillofacial structure
- Cervical spine and neck
- Chest
- Abdomen and pelvis
- Perineum/rectum/vagina
- Musculoskeletal system
- Neurological system
What are the 2 steps to identify and manage potentially life-threatening airway compromise?
- Recognize objective signs of airway obstruction
- Identify trauma or burn in Face, neck and larynx
What is the triad of clinical signs in a laryngeal fracture?
- Hoarseness
- Subcutaneous emphysema
- Palpable fracture
What are the steps to identify objective signs of Airway Obstruction
- Observe the pt too determine whether
Name the patients that may have limited physiological reserve
- Obese patients
- Pediatric patients
- Older adults
- Patients who have sustained facial trauma
