PADI RTO First Aid Student Manual

HLTAID007 - PROVIDE ADVANCED RESUSCITATION Visual and verbal assessment What is meant by visual and verbal assessment of a casualty? A visual assessment is when you carefully observe the casualty and note what you see, e.g. is the person conscious or have they just lost consciousness; note the time; check them for a medical alert bracelet or necklace and check if they have any medication in the their hands or in the vicinity. A verbal assessment is when you ask questions and note the answers. Ask the person their name, the year and if they know where they are. Introduce yourself, ask if they are experiencing any pain on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst the person ever felt. Ask the casualty if they know what happened, if they are experiencing any numbness or tingling in the hands, arms or legs or anywhere in the body; ask if they are experiencing nausea and also ask if they are taking any medication or have allergies to food or medication. Second ry survey assessment What is meant by a visual and verbal secondary survey assessment of the casualty? During a primary survey assessment you look at the DRSABCDS. When EMS are delayed you need to also conduct a secondary survey assessment to determine if the casualty has any injury or illness that need to be managed before EMS arrives. The secondary survey assessment is often referred to as a head-to-toe check as you start the assessment from the casualty’s head and systematically work your way towards their toes. You examine the head and face for possible fractures, eye trauma or head injuries (be careful to not move the head if spinal injury is suspected); if eyes are closed, open or ask the casualty to open their eyes and check the pupil for size and if it reacts to light; check the chest movements (look for rise and fall, assess for slow or fast breathing, gasping for breath or noisy breathing); check for penetrating injuries (do not remove any penetrating objects); press gently against the chest and abdomen with flat palm of your hand(s) to assess pain response from casualty; visually observe all limbs to see if there is any spontaneous movement; if conscious, ask casualty to wriggle their fingers and toes and to squeeze your hand with each hand. You also look at the skin and note its colour (pale, pink, red etc.) then feel the skin for temperature (compare with temperature of your own skin if needed; note if it is hot, cold or clammy); pat down the body and limbs to check for wetness that may suggest bleeding and deformities (e.g. swelling, crooked limb, protruding bone to indicate area of injury). Note down all findings, monitor the casualty’s mental status and continue the Cycle of Care (DRSABCDS).

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PADI RTO