What is the final step of the primary survey in emergency care?

The final step of the primary survey in emergency care involves identifying priority patients. During the primary survey, the primary focus is on assessing life-threatening conditions using the ABCDE approach: Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, and Exposure. Once this assessment is completed, the next logical step is to determine which patients require immediate attention based on their condition.

Identifying priority patients is crucial because it allows responders to allocate resources effectively and ensure that the most critical patients receive urgent care first. This prioritization is a key principle in emergency medical services, often referred to as triage, and ensures that those in the most severe condition are addressed without delay.

The other options, while important in the overall patient care process, occur either during earlier phases of assessment or in subsequent steps of treatment planning. For example, stabilizing the patient is often part of the initial interventions taken based on the findings of the primary survey, while conducting a secondary survey involves a more detailed examination that follows the primary survey. Continuous monitoring is also essential but is generally part of ongoing care rather than a concluding step of the primary survey.