External Disaster Questions

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I just took my NCLEX RN on Friday 24th and got about 3 questions on a external disaster and which patient to assess first. Now correct me if I am wrong....but in a external disaster you assess the patient who is the most stable first....right??

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I think you are supposed to help patients that are the highest priority (need immediate attention and transportation) to the lowest priority (Patients who can wait and receive treatment last) Casulaties who are obviously dead are also a low priority. But, people's conditions can change and those who were at a low priority could all of a sudden become a high priority. I'm just a student right now and I have no idea how correct any of this is...I just remember it from the CPR/first aid classes I had to take for nursing school.

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The way I thought external disasters worked is you assess the most stable patients first and those patients could be discharged to make room for any external disaster patients who are in need of the most help.

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Like I said I'm not 100% sure. My info is only from a first aid text book...maybe it's different for actuall nursing?. The beginning paragraph in the text states; "In triage, first aiders quickly examine all casualties and place them in order of greatest need for first aid and for transportation. The idea is to do the most good for the greatest number of casualties". The way you explain it though makes a lot of sense....

It's one of those things that when a disaster happens, it can't be all text book. That is what critical thinking is for.

I hope you did good on the exam and I have my fingers crossed for you!:nuke:

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I am not completely sure, but I thought that you were suppose to assess patients that were unstable but still had a chance at survival, then the ones that could wait waited, but you tag the ones that have no chance of survival and so on....so i guess it would go, something like injury and 2 needs for life support, injury and one need for life support, injury and 0 need for life support, and injury and more than 2 needs for life support.....life support including anything to support ABC's....I don't know, and honestly I passed on july 9th and have tried not to think about it to much sense...sorry...hopefully someone on here will direct you though!!!!!

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