Assessment for emergency conditions requiring immediate treatment
| ETAT guidelines | APLS course | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Airway and breathing | Visible respiratory distress | Not breathing | |
| Not breathing or obstructed breathing | Work of breathing, assessed by: | ||
| Respiratory rate/rhythm | |||
| Recession (intercostal, subcostal or sternal) | |||
| Grunting | |||
| Accessory muscle use | |||
| Nasal flaring | |||
| Auscultation: | |||
| For wheeze and stridor | |||
| To estimate air movement | |||
| Skin colour: pallor or cyanosis | |||
| Circulation | Warmth of hand. | Skin temperature | |
| If hand is not warm: | Heart rate | ||
| Pulse: fast and weak? | Pulse volume | ||
| Capillary refill | Capillary refill | ||
| Disability | Unconscious | Mental status/conscious level | |
| Convulsing | Posture (hypotonia, decerebrate or decorticate) | ||
| Pupils | |||
| Diarrhoea | If diarrhoea, check for: | ||
| Sunken eyes | |||
| Lethargy | |||
| Very slow skin pinch | |||
ETAT, emergency triage assessment and treatment; APLS, advanced paediatric life support.