Beyond the basics: trauma assessment

Your patient assessment, including a history and, more important, in the trauma patient, the physical exam, and the mechanism of injury will determine treatment and transport priorities. The No. 1 consideration in managing the trauma patient is to establish and maintain an effective airway, ventilation, oxygenation and circulation. Recognizing that the trauma patient needs immediate definitive intervention, an on-scene time of less than 10 minutes is desirable. When determining transport priorities, the EMS provider must decide if delaying transport to perform a procedure is necessary to sustain the patient throughout transport. If it is not a critical procedure, it should be performed en route to the trauma center. Due to the extent of injuries, some trauma patients will die regardless of your most proficient assessment and emergency care.