Use the Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure (ABCDE) approach to assess and treat the patient.

Do a complete initial assessment and re-assess regularly.

Treat life-threatening problems before moving to the next part of assessment.

Assess the effects of treatment.

Recognize when you will need extra help. Call for appropriate help early.

Use all members of the team. This enables interventions (e.g. assessment, attaching monitors, intravenous access), to be undertaken simultaneously.

Communicate effectively – plan approach.

The aim of the initial treatment is to keep the patient alive, and achieve some clinical improvement. This will buy time for further treatment and making a diagnosis.

Remember: it can take a few minutes for treatments to work, so wait a short while before reassessing the patient after an intervention.