The primary survey is the process of assessing a patient's condition quickly and accurately. It is the first step of the medical evaluation process, which involves gathering information about a person’s medical history, symptoms, and physical examination when caring for an injured or ill individual.
When performing a primary survey, it is important to act quickly and effectively in order to identify any life-threatening conditions that require immediate attention. The primary survey typically consists of four steps — ABCDE: Airway with cervical spine control; Breathing; Circulation including hemorrhage control; Disability or neurologic assessment; and Exposure/Environmental control (environmental threats).
In terms of airway management, this includes trying to open up a patient's airway by positioning them correctly (e.g., head tilt-chin lift maneuver) as well as using other methods such as jaw thrusts if necessary. This also includes controlling any possible cervical spine injuries that could be present due to trauma events such as automobile accidents or similar injuries involving rapid deceleration forces on the body.
The second step of the primary survey focuses on breathing assessment where healthcare providers must assess if there are any obstructions in breathing ability through either observation or listening via stethoscope examined respirations during initial evaluation. This may call for chest decompression via needle thoracostomy if tension pneumothorax is suspected due to traumatic injury such as encounter from blast waves from explosions etc…
Further evaluation will include rhythm checks for stable cardiac activity along with palpating pulses at appropriate sites per AHA guidelines for proper circulation assessment allowing personnel to determine next course of action especially related stroke patients etc... .
The fourth step in assessing disability level allows care providers to gauge what kind of neurological deficits exist and even possibly accessing Glasgow Coma Scale evaluations needed which can further help diagnose any potential complicating factors associated with traumatic brain injuries etc… Finally environmental hazard assessments should always be conducted where clinicians will look at elements contributing factors such as extremes temperatures associated with hostile environments potentially leading hypothermia and frostbite development patterns along with various other dangerous external influences impacting health status adversely unless properly treated promptly....