Nursing Care: How to select options in an emergency situation questions ?

Think of a situation in which you are in emergency department and you are assigned to different clients. There is shortage of manpower and there is rush of patients due to some big bus accident. How would you prioritize the situation ? Would you save woman first or babies first ? Would you prioritize old people first ? What is the criteria for prioritization ?

We can classify the cases in 3 groups:

  1. Highest Priority Clients.
  2. Urgent Priority Clients and
  3. Non Urgent Clients

Emergent or Highest Priority Clients (Red Zone)

If the clients have chances of survival with nursing intervention and need some immediate attention and if it is a life and death issue of care, such patients neet highest caring priority.

So, who could be the patient falling in highest priority of care?

  • Patients with acute heart conditions such as Mayocardial infraction.
  • Stroke,
  • Clients with amputated limbs
  • Acute chemical effect on eyes
  • Acute respiratory attacks such as with Asthma, or any anaphylactic reaction.
  • Patients complaining of chest pain, burns, hypersensitive reactions, etc.

Urgent or Intermediate Priority (Yellow Zone)

In this case those clients who have non-life threatening injuries are put. One rule is they have to get the medical service within 30 minutes to 120 minutes.

Example of such cases are the patient with

  • Open fracture,
  • Wounds
  • Medium burns

Non-urgent or Least Priority (Green Zone)

In this zone, those patients who do not have life threatening complications and who have local injuries and can wait for 2 hours for a health care workers are put in.

Examples of clients with such cases are :

  • Muscle Strain
  • Ligament Strain
  • Closed fracture, etc.

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