Emergency Stabilisation
Before any diagnosis, a critically ill patient needs an airway, breathing and a circulation. Stabilisation is the work of securing those, in that order, and it happens before the scan, before the specialist opinion and often before the family arrives.
- Airway, breathing, circulation, in that order
- Treatment before diagnosis
- Resuscitation equipment at every bedside
- Escalation to intensive care in the same building
Stay
Minutes to hours, then admission
Duration
The first minutes to hours
Anaesthesia
As required
About Emergency Stabilisation
The order is not arbitrary: an obstructed airway kills faster than anything else, and there is no point diagnosing a patient who is not breathing. Stabilisation buys the time to find out what is wrong. It is the same sequence whether the cause is trauma, sepsis, a cardiac event or poisoning, which is why every member of the team knows it.
- The order reflects how fast each problem kills
- Treatment happens before the diagnosis is known
- The same sequence applies whatever the cause
- Reassessment is continuous, not a single pass
Before you read on
Everything here is general information about emergency stabilisation. Whether it suits you, and how it would be done in your case, is a decision for your doctor after examining you.
Your consultant's instructions always take precedence over anything written on this page.
When is it recommended?
Situations in which a doctor may suggest emergency stabilisation.
- Any critically ill or deteriorating patient
- Cardiac arrest and peri-arrest
- Major trauma
- Severe sepsis or shock
- Loss of consciousness from any cause
- Severe breathing difficulty
- Poisoning or overdose
Procedure details
The usual sequence, from first consultation through to follow-up.
Airway
The airway is opened and secured, with suction, an adjunct or a breathing tube depending on what is needed.
Breathing
Oxygen is given, breathing assessed and supported, and any immediately life-threatening chest problem treated.
Circulation
Access is obtained, fluids or blood given, bleeding controlled and blood pressure supported where needed.
Reassessment
The sequence is repeated continuously, because a patient who was stable five minutes ago may not be now.
How to prepare
What to sort out before you come in.
- Nothing to prepare, this is emergency care
- Call 108 rather than transporting a critically ill person yourself
- Family should bring medication and medical history when they can
- Expect the team to work quickly with little explanation at first
- Somebody will speak to the family as soon as the patient is stable
Recovery
What to expect afterwards, and roughly when.
- Stabilisation is the beginning of treatment rather than the end
- Patients are admitted to intensive care or a ward once stable
- Diagnosis and definitive treatment follow once the immediate danger has passed
- Families are updated as soon as the immediate work is done
- Recovery depends entirely on the underlying cause
Why choose Humayun for emergency stabilisation
Stabilisation depends on equipment being present and the team knowing the sequence without discussion.
- Airway and resuscitation equipment at every bedside rather than fetched
- Emergency, anaesthetic and intensive care teams called simultaneously
- Imaging beside the resuscitation area, so a scan is not a journey
- Intensive care in the same building, so a stabilised patient is not transferred
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