Rapid trauma assessment

Rapid Trauma Assessment is a quick method (usually 60 to 90 seconds), most commonly used by Emergency Medical Services (EMS), to identify hidden and obvious injuries in a trauma victim.
The goal is to identify and treat immediate threats to life that may not have been obvious during an initial assessment. After an initial assessment involving basic checks on airway, breathing and circulation, the caregiver considers things like mechanism of injury (how the person was hurt) to determine if a more rapid diagnostic approach is indicated than might otherwise be used.
Indications for rapid trauma assessment.
Generally, rapid trauma assessment is indicated if:
If NONE of these criteria are met, the medical provider may go through a slower or more focused trauma assessment.
Identifying life threats.
A standard rapid trauma assessment will check for each of the following life threats, and provide some forms of basic treatment. Treatment that would not be life-saving is not conducted until after the rapid trauma assessment. For each area of the body assessed, it is helpful to review them while addressing the different parts of the mnemonic "DCAP-BTLS." This stands for: Deformities, Contusions, Abrasions, Punctures/Penetrations, Burns, Tenderness, Lacerations, and Swelling.
A rapid trauma assessment goes from head to toe to find these life threats: