Question

On a bike trail, you come across a 19 year female sitting next to her tipped over bicycle. She says, “My left arm and leg hurt like crazy.” You check her and find that she is unable to move her leg, which is beginning to swell; you feel a raised bump area below her knee. Her left arm looks deformed at the shoulder and is beginning to look bruised. The woman also has a scrape on her right hand and you note blood oozing below her right elbow. Her left eye is black and blue. She states again, “my left arm and leg hurt like crazy.” She takes Neurontin. She informs you, “I used to get seizures.” She has a water bottle with her that she used prior to the accident. She tells you, “I think I might have passed out while riding my bike.”

Perform a primary and secondary assessment

Use the DOTS mnemonic to find an injury

Use the SAMPLE mnemonic to help determine what is wrong

In a written paragraph or bullet points, describe your findings from your assessments. Using the DOTS and SAMPLE mnemonics describe your findings.

Answer 1

# Primary assessment is the first evaluation of the patient in the field, conducted after it is clear that the scene is safe. The initial assessment follows the sequence of mental status, airway, breathing, and circulation.

# The secondary assessment is used after a primary assessment has been done. This is where the clinician goes through step by step head-to-toe to figure out what happened. Secondary assessments are used in order to determine the injury, how the injury occurred, how severe the injury is, and to eliminate further injury.

# DOTS is an acronym used to remember what to look for when conducting a physical assessment of a casualty (ie, looking for injuries). DOTS stands for: Deformities. Open wounds. Tenderness.

# SAMPLE mnemonic :-

S- Signs and Symptoms – By asking the question “What seems to be bothering you?” a rescuer can get the answers from his or her victim.

A – Allergies – Allergies play a significant role in first aid emergencies. Rescuers can ask “Do you have any allergies I should know about?” to determine the answer to this question. More advanced rescuers can ask questions pertaining to medical allergies.

M – Medication – A victim forgetting to take his or her medication or a victim that carries a certain type of medication (ex: Nitro for Heart Attacks), can help a rescuer determine the problem. A simple question of “Are you on any medication?” can help a rescuer obtain the information from the victim.

P – Past Pertinent History – This part of the acronym, usually confused with the E (which you’ll find out about soon), is associated with finding out whether this has happened to the victim in the past. If these symptoms are re-occuring the victim can help by telling what the cause was in the previous circumstance. A simple question of “Has this happened to you before?” can aid in retrieving this information from the victim.

L – Last Meal – Past meal time can help in determine if the victim might be suffering from a number of issues, with a likely scenario being low blood sugar. In this circumstance the victim might need to increase blood sugar. A good question to ask would be “When was your last meal” or “Did you have breakfast/lunch/dinner?”

E – Events Prior to – Not to be confused with past pertinent history, this final letter in the acronym is associated with what the victim was doing prior to the first aid emergency. An example of the how this part of the acronym apply’s can be in the role of excessive exercise to a an “out-of-shape” victim which can have a number of effects. A good question in this circumstance is “What were you doing before this happened?”

1. In this case primary assessment include assessing the circulation , breathing , airway and conscious level of the patient.

2..In the secondary assessment ,we conduct a head to toe physical examination in which we found :-

- swelling in the left leg

- a raised bump area below her knee

- deformation of left arm at the shoulder and it is bruised

- scrape on her right hand

- blood oozing below her right elbow

- left eye is black and blue

3. DOTS mnemonic to find an injury :-

D - she had deformity of left shoulder

O - open wound below her right elbow

T - no tenderness

4. SAMPLE mnemonic to find what is wrong are :-

S - asking about signs and symptoms which include all the above mentioned secondary assessment

A - asking about any allergies

M - asking the patient about any medication she is taking . In this case she is taking Neurontin for seizures .

P - asking about past history of such situations

L - asking the patient when did she had her last meal

E- what was she doing prior to the incident happened .

Answer 2

# Primary assessment is the first evaluation of the patient in the field, conducted after it is clear that the scene is safe. The initial assessment follows the sequence of mental status, airway, breathing, and circulation.

# The secondary assessment is used after a primary assessment has been done. This is where the clinician goes through step by step head-to-toe to figure out what happened. Secondary assessments are used in order to determine the injury, how the injury occurred, how severe the injury is, and to eliminate further injury.

# DOTS is an acronym used to remember what to look for when conducting a physical assessment of a casualty (ie, looking for injuries). DOTS stands for: Deformities. Open wounds. Tenderness.

# SAMPLE mnemonic :-

S- Signs and Symptoms – By asking the question “What seems to be bothering you?” a rescuer can get the answers from his or her victim.

A – Allergies – Allergies play a significant role in first aid emergencies. Rescuers can ask “Do you have any allergies I should know about?” to determine the answer to this question. More advanced rescuers can ask questions pertaining to medical allergies.

M – Medication – A victim forgetting to take his or her medication or a victim that carries a certain type of medication (ex: Nitro for Heart Attacks), can help a rescuer determine the problem. A simple question of “Are you on any medication?” can help a rescuer obtain the information from the victim.

P – Past Pertinent History – This part of the acronym, usually confused with the E (which you’ll find out about soon), is associated with finding out whether this has happened to the victim in the past. If these symptoms are re-occuring the victim can help by telling what the cause was in the previous circumstance. A simple question of “Has this happened to you before?” can aid in retrieving this information from the victim.

L – Last Meal – Past meal time can help in determine if the victim might be suffering from a number of issues, with a likely scenario being low blood sugar. In this circumstance the victim might need to increase blood sugar. A good question to ask would be “When was your last meal” or “Did you have breakfast/lunch/dinner?”

E – Events Prior to – Not to be confused with past pertinent history, this final letter in the acronym is associated with what the victim was doing prior to the first aid emergency. An example of the how this part of the acronym apply’s can be in the role of excessive exercise to a an “out-of-shape” victim which can have a number of effects. A good question in this circumstance is “What were you doing before this happened?”

1. In this case primary assessment include assessing the circulation , breathing , airway and conscious level of the patient.

2..In the secondary assessment ,we conduct a head to toe physical examination in which we found :-

- swelling in the left leg

- a raised bump area below her knee

- deformation of left arm at the shoulder and it is bruised

- scrape on her right hand

- blood oozing below her right elbow

- left eye is black and blue

3. DOTS mnemonic to find an injury :-

D - she had deformity of left shoulder

O - open wound below her right elbow

T - no tenderness

4. SAMPLE mnemonic to find what is wrong are :-

S - asking about signs and symptoms which include all the above mentioned secondary assessment

A - asking about any allergies

M - asking the patient about any medication she is taking . In this case she is taking Neurontin for seizures .

P - asking about past history of such situations

L - asking the patient when did she had her last meal

E- what was she doing prior to the incident happened .

Answer 3

# Primary assessment is the first evaluation of the patient in the field, conducted after it is clear that the scene is safe. The initial assessment follows the sequence of mental status, airway, breathing, and circulation.

# The secondary assessment is used after a primary assessment has been done. This is where the clinician goes through step by step head-to-toe to figure out what happened. Secondary assessments are used in order to determine the injury, how the injury occurred, how severe the injury is, and to eliminate further injury.

# DOTS is an acronym used to remember what to look for when conducting a physical assessment of a casualty (ie, looking for injuries). DOTS stands for: Deformities. Open wounds. Tenderness.

# SAMPLE mnemonic :-

S- Signs and Symptoms – By asking the question “What seems to be bothering you?” a rescuer can get the answers from his or her victim.

A – Allergies – Allergies play a significant role in first aid emergencies. Rescuers can ask “Do you have any allergies I should know about?” to determine the answer to this question. More advanced rescuers can ask questions pertaining to medical allergies.

M – Medication – A victim forgetting to take his or her medication or a victim that carries a certain type of medication (ex: Nitro for Heart Attacks), can help a rescuer determine the problem. A simple question of “Are you on any medication?” can help a rescuer obtain the information from the victim.

P – Past Pertinent History – This part of the acronym, usually confused with the E (which you’ll find out about soon), is associated with finding out whether this has happened to the victim in the past. If these symptoms are re-occuring the victim can help by telling what the cause was in the previous circumstance. A simple question of “Has this happened to you before?” can aid in retrieving this information from the victim.

L – Last Meal – Past meal time can help in determine if the victim might be suffering from a number of issues, with a likely scenario being low blood sugar. In this circumstance the victim might need to increase blood sugar. A good question to ask would be “When was your last meal” or “Did you have breakfast/lunch/dinner?”

E – Events Prior to – Not to be confused with past pertinent history, this final letter in the acronym is associated with what the victim was doing prior to the first aid emergency. An example of the how this part of the acronym apply’s can be in the role of excessive exercise to a an “out-of-shape” victim which can have a number of effects. A good question in this circumstance is “What were you doing before this happened?”

1. In this case primary assessment include assessing the circulation , breathing , airway and conscious level of the patient.

2..In the secondary assessment ,we conduct a head to toe physical examination in which we found :-

- swelling in the left leg

- a raised bump area below her knee

- deformation of left arm at the shoulder and it is bruised

- scrape on her right hand

- blood oozing below her right elbow

- left eye is black and blue

3. DOTS mnemonic to find an injury :-

D - she had deformity of left shoulder

O - open wound below her right elbow

T - no tenderness

4. SAMPLE mnemonic to find what is wrong are :-

S - asking about signs and symptoms which include all the above mentioned secondary assessment

A - asking about any allergies

M - asking the patient about any medication she is taking . In this case she is taking Neurontin for seizures .

P - asking about past history of such situations

L - asking the patient when did she had her last meal

E- what was she doing prior to the incident happened .