"[T]he ABC acronym used in traumas all over the world today arose from a particular light aircraft crash on a Nebraska prairie in the 1970s. James Styner, the American trauma surgeon who happened to be flying the plane, was horrified by the chaos, incompetence and dithering that nearly cost his four young children their lives in a tiny rural hospital. The acronym he developed is based on the principle that when someone is critically injured, time is of the essence. Airway, Breathing and Circulation problems must be fixed in that order, before moving on to the next thing, because they are most likely to kill the patient fastest. The genius of the acronym lies in its simplicity. It gives doctors, nurses and paramedics a scaffold to cling on to amid the shock and disarray of a major disaster, providing emergency treatment one logical step at a time."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Non-fiction authors from EnglandUniversity of Oxford alumniWomen born in the 1970sWomen journalists from EnglandWomen physicians from England
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
"Instead of helping desperate NHS doctors like me, Thérèse Coffey is sticking in the boot", The Guardian (22 September 2022).
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rachel_Clarke
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Rachel Clarke
9 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Rachel Clarke →
Related Quotes
"This week, in response to the series, NHS England linked staff to a range of support services in a tweet [which follo…"
"If [[w:Sally Davies (doctor)|[Sally] Davies]] really wants to bolster rock-bottom morale among juniors, she could pub…"
"The morning after it happens, it is hard to believe the sun still shines. I am standing in the kitchen, staring out a…"
"With NHS staff being forced to witness our patients dying in corridors, in cupboards, on floors and in stranded ambul…"
"I arrive at work to find the atmosphere mutinous. The nurses in my hospital – as in every other – are exhausted, demo…"
"[Frail patients] went on to Covid wards, which was where I tended to work. Sometimes, six or eight patients on a ward…"
"[Clarke was] caring for patients who are destined from the moment they come into hospital to never even see a human f…"
"[From a family of male doctors and female nurses, Clarke at first did not want to become a doctor] I worried that my …"
"The more I thought about it, the more obsessed I became with the idea of a swimming journey. I started to dream ever …"
"From water level, I observed the mating joined in flight like refuelling aircraft, and the random progress of the clo…"