The secondary survey and reassessment

The secondary survey begins only after the primary survey is complete, life threats are treated, and vital signs are stabilising. It is a systematic head-to-toe examination to find every other injury — the fractured wrist hidden by a dramatic scalp wound, the perforated eardrum after a blast, the seatbelt bruise over a ruptured bowel. If the patient deteriorates at any point, abandon it and return to ABCDE.