In an Emergency Room (ER), doctors will have to make decisions on which patients are more of a priority as per indicated by the ABCDE approach. For example, if you are the only doctor in an ER, and there are four patients, of which one has a fever, another is choking, one is having a heart attack and the other one has a broken leg, which one would you prioritize?Think wisely about it before moving on.
The ABCDE approach highlights the order of priority, being as follows:
Airways - airway blockage, cervical spine injury.
Breathing - effective breathing.
Circulation - adequate oxygenation: heart rate, blood pressure, etc.
Disability - level of consciousness.
Exposure - signs of concern in the patient’s body: fractures, fever, etc.
Therefore, the correct answer would be the person that is choking, as an obstructed airway will kill you faster than a heart attack, as air cannot get into your body. Therefore, checking for breathing is the second most important priority. Oxygenation is always the most important, so after ensuring that air (and hence oxygen) is getting into the body, circulation is the next thing to check for to ensure oxygen is getting to your body’s cells as well
This approach is important to be aware of so as to know what to do in case of a medical emergency.
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