She was only six years old. She had somehow fallen from a height, landing on her head…unfortunately on concrete. It’s always concrete here. Her father told me she had been knocked unconscious immediately and she had not spoken since she fell. She had not vomited, but she also had not moved since the fall.
My residents and I performed a physical exam on the girl based on the “ABCDE” pneumonic I had been reinforcing: Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, and Exposure. It is designed to simplify the assessment of trauma victims and to ensure that examinations are performed that same, every time, by every person. The theory is that if you do something the same way every time, there is less of a chance that you will miss something important.
My residents and I performed a physical exam on the girl based on the “ABCDE” pneumonic I had been reinforcing: Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, and Exposure. It is designed to simplify the assessment of trauma victims and to ensure that examinations are performed that same, every time, by every person. The theory is that if you do something the same way every time, there is less of a chance that you will miss something important.