In an emergency, quick and structured assessment can make the difference between life and death. The DRcABCDE Primary Survey provides a systematic approach to identifying and treating life-threatening conditions in order of priority.
Many instructors report finding delivery of the updated Primary Survey challenging and demonstrations can become lengthy whilst explaining each stage.
Chris Parsons, Senior Trainer and founder of WorkSafe Training runs through a Primary Survey in the linked video below and explains how to keep things short and to the point.
Key takeaways from the video are summarised below.
How to keep your Primary Survey demonstration short and effective:
- Demonstrate using a person rather than a manikin, where possible.
- Explain the survey is progressive, at any stage where a problem exists, stop and take action before moving on.
- Keep things simple during your demonstration, explain that detail will be covered later in the syllabus. This is not the place to demonstrate how to apply a tourniquet!
- Use the WorkSafe Primary survey slide, featured above, to assist and guide you through each step.
- Answer questions briefly during a demonstration and move on, provide more detailed answers, where needed, later on.
- Use a talk through demonstration to explain technique and finish with a real time demonstration to emphasise the timeframe.
- Remember, it should take no more than 90 seconds to complete your Primary Survey in real time!
- Practice is key to success, both for learners and instructors.
- Disability and Exposure are considerations, you do not need to know detailed signs and symptoms of every condition. Remember the emergency call handler will be able to assist.