NCLIP

Emergency Assessment ABCs Primary and Secondary Survey

2 min read

Emergency Assessment ABCs Primary and Secondary Survey

Key Points

  • Emergency assessment targets immediate threats to life and physiological stability.
  • ABC priorities (airway, breathing, circulation) guide first actions.
  • Primary survey identifies critical instability; secondary survey gathers detailed context.
  • Rapid reassessment and team communication are essential in physiological or psychological crisis.

Equipment

  • Emergency vital-sign and oxygenation monitoring
  • Airway and resuscitation equipment per unit protocol
  • Rapid documentation and escalation communication tools

Procedure Steps

  1. Recognize emergency presentation and initiate rapid-response/emergency protocol.
  2. Perform Airway assessment and intervene immediately if patency is compromised.
  3. Perform Breathing assessment: respiratory rate/effort, oxygen saturation, and breath-sound adequacy.
  4. Perform Circulation assessment: pulse, blood pressure, perfusion cues, and active bleeding.
  5. Complete primary survey and initiate immediate lifesaving interventions (for example oxygen, CPR, hemorrhage control) as indicated.
  6. Reassess response to primary interventions in short cycles.
  7. Conduct secondary survey for expanded history, medications, allergies, and event circumstances.
  8. In suspected neurologic emergency, perform focused neuro cues (level of consciousness, speech, focal deficits) without delaying lifesaving actions.
  9. Communicate findings and priorities to the team and continue iterative reassessment.

Common Errors

  • Delaying ABC actions for noncritical history collection → worsened instability risk.
  • Skipping repeated reassessment after intervention → missed deterioration.
  • Poor handoff communication in crisis → treatment delays and errors.
  • Failing to distinguish physiological and psychological crisis needs → incomplete stabilization.

그래프 뷰