Rapid Emergency Assessment · NCLEX Exam

If a trauma patient arrives unresponsive with obvious massive external bleeding, which step may take precedence over the standard A-B-C order?

  1. Performing the full secondary survey before any airway check
  2. Controlling catastrophic external bleeding before airway management
  3. Assessing breathing first and deferring all bleeding control
  4. Obtaining complete imaging before any intervention
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Correct answer: Controlling catastrophic external bleeding before airway management

In trauma care, the concept of 'Catastrophic haemorrhage' before airway sometimes leads to a 'C-A-B' or '(C)ABCDE' variant in massive bleeding scenarios.

Difficulty: Medium Question 2 of 20

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