When should you treat non-life threatening injuries?

The appropriate point to treat non-life threatening injuries is during the secondary assessment. This phase occurs after the primary assessment, where the focus is on identifying and addressing any immediate life-threatening conditions such as airway obstruction, breathing difficulties, and severe bleeding.

During the secondary assessment, once it has been established that there are no critical life threats, responders can systematically address less critical conditions, such as non-life threatening injuries. This approach ensures that the responder prioritizes the most urgent and critical needs of the patient first, maintaining the highest standard of care and safety.

Treating non-life threatening injuries immediately upon identification may divert attention from assessing or resolving potentially serious conditions. Addressing them during the primary assessment could compromise the focus on immediate life-threatening issues, while waiting until after all life-threatening issues are resolved might cause unnecessary delays in care for those non-critical injuries. Doing so during the secondary assessment allows for a more organized and effective approach to patient care.