The revision of the primary survey: a 2011 review

David Halliwell
Friday, July 1, 2011

This article outlines changes that have been made to the patient assessment primary survey for ambulance staff that was adopted by South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWAST). It provides a brief history of the airway, breathing and circulation approach (ABC), and the transition to (C) ABCDE undertaken in 2007, following the publication of the paper by Hodgetts et al (2006). The article intends to describe and build on the lessons learned from the last 4 years of using a standardized approach to patient assessment. The article is designed to create further debate among our peers regarding hybrids of patient assessment.

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