How often should you reassess a patient's condition?

Reassessing a patient's condition is a critical part of patient care in emergency medical response. The correct interval for reassessment depends on the stability of the patient. When a patient is unstable, frequent reassessments, such as every 5 minutes, help ensure that any changes in their condition are quickly identified and addressed. This is essential as unstable patients can deteriorate rapidly, and timely intervention can be life-saving.

For a stable patient, a longer interval, like every 15 minutes, is typically sufficient because their condition is expected to remain relatively unchanged. This approach allows the responder to focus on patients in critical need while still maintaining oversight of those who are stable.

This patient assessment strategy is designed to balance the need for immediate response to changing conditions in unstable patients with the efficient use of time and resources for those who are more stable.