Initial Assessment And Treatment With The Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure (ABCDE) Approach

Abstract. Introduction. Which patients need ABCDE? Abcde principles. The abcde approach. A – Airway is the airway patent? B – Breathing is the breathing sufficient? C – Circulation is the circulation sufficient? D – Disability what is the level of consciousness? E – Exposure any clues to explain the patient’s condition? Conclusion.

Initial assessment and treatment with the Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure (ABCDE) approach.

The Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure (ABCDE) approach is applicable in all clinical emergencies for immediate assessment and treatment. The approach is widely accepted by experts in emergency medicine and likely improves outcomes by helping health care professionals focusing on the most life-threatening clinical problems. In an acute setting, high-quality ABCDE skills among all treating team members can save valuable time and improve team performance.

The Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure (ABCDE) approach is a systematic approach to the immediate assessment and treatment of critically ill or injured patients. The approach is applicable in all clinical emergencies. It can be used in the street without any equipment (Figure 1) or, in a more advanced form, upon arrival of emergency medical services, in emergency rooms, in general wards of hospitals, or in intensive care units.

The aims of the ABCDE approach are: to provide life-saving treatment to break down complex clinical situations into more manageable parts to serve as an assessment and treatment algorithm to establish common situational awareness among all treatment providers to buy time to establish a final diagnosis and treatment.