What is OPQRST Patient Assessment?

There are many memory "devices" that have been developed to help emergency medical technician (EMT) students retain all of the information they need to know to pass written and practical exams, and to actually work in the field of emergency medical services. One of those memory devices is called OPQRST. This devices serves as an aid to EMT students in asking questions about a present illness when learning how to perform a medical patient assessment. Yes, EMTs not only attend to trauma and cardiac patients, we also attend to medical patients. OPQRST stands for: onset, provocation, quality, radiation, severity, and time.

The EMT Patient Assessment for a Present Illness

The interview that an EMT does during a medical patient assessment is for the purpose of gathering needed information to be able to render proper pre-hospital care. The patient's chief complaint is discovered around which the OPQRST questions are asked. Below is an example of what type questions might be asked by an EMT or paramedic during a medical patient assessment.

OPQRST in Action:

1. O for Onset - What were you doing when this (problem/illness) came on?
2. P for Provocation - Can you think of what might have caused/provoked this pain/problem/feeling?
3. Q for Quality - Please describe the pain for me in specific terms.
4. R for Radiation - Where exactly is the pain and does it radiate to any other parts?
5. S for Severity - On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the worst pain you've ever experienced, what number would you assign to your discomfort?
6. T for Time - When did this pain start and has it changed in any way since it came on?

There are other questions that a medic must asks when carrying out a medical patient assessment. However, OPQRST is helpful for the part of gathering a history of the patient's present illness. If you are an EMT student, you will undoubtedly be quite nervous the first time you have to do a medical patient assessment; but, you'll settle in and do just fine if you really want to be in this profession. Remember, you don't have to use OPQRST, it's simply a memory device that you might or might not find helpful. I found it very helpful.

If you are not an EMT student, you still might be the medical patient of an EMT someday and be asked these OPQRST questions. Try to cooperate with the medics who attend to you; they need all the information they can get to help them give you the very best pre-hospital care.

Source:

National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT) certification, EMT state license, EMT with local fire departnemt