Patient Assessment (Chapter 9) Flashcards
Primary Assessment
A - Airway
B- Breathing
C- Circulation
C- C-Spine
B- Bleeding
Level of Consciousness
A- Alert and awake
V- Verbal Responsive to verbal
P- Painful. Responsive to pain
U- Unresponsive
4 places to find a Pulse: (rate, strength, and regularity)
radial (wrist) when conscious
Brachial (arm) take pulse of infant
Carotid (neck) when unconscious
Femoral (leg)
Respiration
(rate, sounds and volume)
- greater than 30 (too high), less than 8 is critical (too low)
- On average 12-20 beats per minute (norm adult respiratory rate)
- Listen for sounds
If Skin Color is Pale = ______
If Skin color is Purple / Blue = ____
If Skin Color is Yellow = ____
Pale: pass out
Purple/blue: lack oxygen
Yellow: liver disease
Pupils
- Reactive to light?
- Constricted pupils - opiates
- Dilated pupils - head injury, drugs
Capillary refill
Nail beds are red in color. If you push on it, it turns white. How long did it take to go back to its’ normal red color. Less than two seconds
Vitals:
- Pulse
- Respiration
- Skin Color
- Pupils
- Capillary Refill
S.A.M.P.L.E
Signs - What you can visibly see
Symptoms- What they tell you
Allergies- Food, medications or environmental conditions?
Medications - Are they taking any medications
Pertinent Medical History- Important medical history info
Last Oral Intake - Important for surgery < 8 hours
Events- leading up to Medical Emergency
Secondary Assessment:
- Looking for non-life threatening injuries head to toe
- D: Deformities
- O: Open injuries
- T: Tenderness
- S: Swelling
Reassessment:
- Stable - every 15 minutes
- Unstable - every 5 minutes
Patient assessment sequence
- Perform Scene Size up
- Primary Assessment
- Obtain medical history
- perform secondary history
- perform reassessment
Where to check the pulse on an unconscious person?
Carotid pulse
Where to check the pulse on a conscious person?
Radial pulse
