Emergency Medicine Abbreviations
97 abbreviations · part of Medical Abbreviations
Emergency medicine abbreviations cover the language of emergency departments and prehospital care: resuscitation courses and outcomes (CPR, ACLS, ROSC), triage systems (ESI, START), trauma mechanisms and assessments (MVC, GSW, FAST), code status and advance directives (DNR, POLST) and EMS operations (BVM, ETCO2, PCR). Many are defined by organizations such as the American Heart Association, the American College of Surgeons and the National Registry of EMTs, and some carry legal weight, such as EMTALA obligations or signed DNR orders. Code status abbreviations should always be confirmed against the signed order, since a misunderstanding can lead to unwanted or withheld resuscitation.
| Abbreviation | Stands for | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ABCDE | Airway, breathing, circulation, disability, exposure | Structured primary survey used in trauma and critically ill patients to find and treat life threats in order. |
| ABCs | Airway, breathing, circulation | Classic priority sequence for assessing and treating seriously ill or injured patients: secure the airway, ensure breathing, then support circulation. |
| ACEP | American College of Emergency Physicians | Professional organization for emergency physicians in the United States, founded in 1968. |
| ACLS | Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support | American Heart Association course and set of algorithms for managing cardiac arrest, dangerous arrhythmias, acute coronary syndromes and stroke in adults. |
| AD | Advance directive | Legal document in which a person states wishes for future medical care and/or names someone to decide for them if they cannot. |
| ALS | Advanced life support | Level of prehospital and resuscitation care beyond basic life support, including cardiac monitoring, defibrillation decisions, IV or intraosseous access, advanced… |
| AMA | Against medical advice | Situation in which a patient leaves a hospital or emergency department, or refuses recommended care, contrary to the advice of the treating team. |
| AMLS | Advanced Medical Life Support | National Association of EMTs course on assessing and managing medical emergencies, such as respiratory distress, shock, altered mental status and toxic exposures, using… |
| AND | Allow natural death | Alternative wording for a DNR order that emphasizes allowing death to occur naturally with comfort-focused care, rather than describing what is withheld. |
| ATLS | Advanced Trauma Life Support | American College of Surgeons course teaching a systematic approach to the first hour of trauma care, including the primary survey (ABCDE), resuscitation, secondary… |
| BIBA | Brought in by ambulance | Arrival mode noted in British, Irish, Australian and New Zealand emergency department records for patients transported by ambulance. |
| BIBEMS | Brought in by emergency medical services | US emergency department notation that the patient arrived by ambulance rather than walking in or by private car. |
| BLS | Basic life support | Fundamental emergency care that keeps a person alive until advanced help arrives: high-quality CPR, use of an AED, rescue breathing and relief of choking. |
| BSI | Body substance isolation | EMS term for protective measures, such as gloves, eye protection and masks, taken to avoid contact with blood and body fluids. |
| BVM | Bag-valve-mask | Handheld device with a self-inflating bag, one-way valve and face mask used to give positive-pressure breaths to patients who are not breathing or breathing inadequately. |
| CAB | Compressions, airway, breathing | Sequence for adult CPR introduced by the American Heart Association in 2010, starting chest compressions before opening the airway and giving breaths, to minimize… |
| CCT | Critical care transport | Interfacility ambulance or air transport of critically ill patients who need care beyond standard paramedic scope, such as ventilators, multiple infusions or invasive… |
| CMO | Comfort measures only | Care plan focusing solely on relieving symptoms such as pain, breathlessness and anxiety at the end of life, with treatments aimed at prolonging life, such as labs… |
| CPR | Cardiopulmonary resuscitation | Emergency procedure of chest compressions, with or without rescue breaths, that keeps blood flowing to the brain and heart during cardiac arrest. |
| CPSS | Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale | Quick EMS stroke screen that checks facial droop, arm drift and abnormal speech. |
| CTAS | Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale | Five-level triage system used in Canadian emergency departments, from level 1 (resuscitation) to level 5 (non-urgent), with time-to-physician targets for each level. |
| DCAP-BTLS | Deformities, contusions, abrasions, punctures/penetrations, burns, tenderness, lacerations, swelling | EMS mnemonic for what to look and feel for during a trauma assessment of each body region. |
| DNACPR | Do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation | UK term for a decision and form recording that CPR should not be attempted if the patient's heart stops. |
| DNAR | Do not attempt resuscitation | Variant of the DNR order emphasizing that resuscitation is an attempt that may not succeed. |
| DNI | Do not intubate | Code status order stating that the patient should not receive endotracheal intubation or invasive mechanical ventilation. |
| DNR | Do not resuscitate | Medical order stating that CPR, defibrillation and related resuscitation will not be attempted if the patient's heart or breathing stops. |
| DOA | Dead on arrival | Term for a person found to be dead when EMS arrives or when brought to the emergency department, with no resuscitation attempted or indicated. |
| DPL | Diagnostic peritoneal lavage | Procedure in which fluid is instilled into and drained from the abdominal cavity to detect blood or intestinal contents after trauma. |
| eFAST | Extended focused assessment with sonography for trauma | FAST exam extended with views of both sides of the chest to detect pneumothorax and hemothorax. |
| EMD | Emergency medical dispatcher | Trained 911 telecommunicator who questions callers using structured protocols, assigns priority, dispatches resources and gives pre-arrival instructions such as… |
| EMS | Emergency medical services | System that provides prehospital emergency care and transport, including 911 dispatch, ambulances, first responders, EMTs, paramedics and air medical services. |
| EMTALA | Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act | US federal law requiring hospitals that participate in Medicare and have emergency departments to provide a medical screening exam to anyone requesting care, and to… |
| ENA | Emergency Nurses Association | Professional association for emergency nurses, founded in 1970, which develops education such as TNCC and ENPC, publishes the Journal of Emergency Nursing and maintains… |
| ENPC | Emergency Nursing Pediatric Course | Emergency Nurses Association course on assessing and treating ill and injured children in emergency settings, including triage, respiratory and shock management and… |
| EP | Emergency physician | Physician specializing in emergency medicine who evaluates and treats undifferentiated patients in the emergency department, makes disposition decisions and leads… |
| ESI | Emergency Severity Index | Five-level emergency department triage system ranking patients from level 1 (immediate lifesaving intervention) to level 5 (no resources needed), based on acuity and… |
| FAST | Focused assessment with sonography for trauma | Bedside ultrasound exam that looks for free fluid, usually blood, around the liver, spleen, bladder and heart in injured patients. |
| FB | Foreign body | Object that has entered the body where it does not belong, such as a splinter, swallowed coin, object in the ear or nose, or debris in the eye. |
| GLF | Ground-level fall | Fall from standing height or lower, such as tripping or slipping while walking. |
| GSW | Gunshot wound | Injury caused by a bullet or other projectile fired from a gun, recorded with number, location and entry and exit wounds when identifiable. |
| HCP | Health care proxy | Person legally appointed by a patient to make medical decisions if the patient loses capacity, and the document that appoints them. |
| HCPOA | Health care power of attorney | Document in which a person appoints an agent, often called a health care proxy or surrogate, to make medical decisions if the person cannot make or communicate them. |
| HEMS | Helicopter emergency medical services | Air ambulance services using helicopters to reach scenes and transfer critically ill or injured patients quickly to specialized hospitals, especially over long… |
| HICS | Hospital Incident Command System | Version of the Incident Command System adapted for hospitals, used to manage disasters, surges, outages and other emergencies with clear roles and job action sheets. |
| ICS | Incident Command System | Standardized management structure for emergencies that defines roles such as incident commander, operations, planning, logistics and finance, so responders from… |
| IFT | Interfacility transport | Ambulance or air transport of a patient between healthcare facilities, such as from a community hospital to a specialty center or from a hospital to a nursing facility. |
| IHCA | In-hospital cardiac arrest | Cardiac arrest occurring in a hospital patient or visitor, managed by a code team. |
| ISS | Injury Severity Score | Anatomical trauma score calculated by squaring the highest Abbreviated Injury Scale grade in each of the three most severely injured body regions and adding them… |
| KED | Kendrick Extrication Device | Semi-rigid vest-type device that wraps around the torso, head and neck to keep the spine aligned while a seated patient is removed from a vehicle. |
| lac | Laceration | Cut or tear in the skin, documented by location, length, depth, contamination and repair method. |
| LSB | Long spine board | Rigid board used to extricate and move trauma patients, formerly applied routinely to immobilize the spine during transport. |
| LWBS | Left without being seen | Emergency department disposition for patients who leave after registration or triage but before being evaluated by a physician or other provider. |
| MARCH | Massive hemorrhage, airway, respiration, circulation, hypothermia | Tactical and military trauma sequence prioritizing control of life-threatening bleeding before airway management, because hemorrhage is the leading preventable cause of… |
| MCC | Motorcycle crash | Trauma mechanism involving a motorcycle, recorded with details such as helmet use, speed and whether the rider was thrown. |
| MCI | Mass-casualty incident | Emergency in which the number of patients overwhelms the responding agencies' normal resources, such as a bus crash, building collapse or mass shooting. |
| MOI | Mechanism of injury | Description of how an injury occurred, including forces, speed, height of fall and objects involved. |
| MOLST | Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment | State-specific version of the POLST form used in states such as New York, Massachusetts and Maryland. |
| MOST | Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment | Name for the POLST-type form in states such as North Carolina and Colorado, recording a patient's choices about resuscitation, medical interventions, antibiotics and… |
| MSE | Medical screening examination | Evaluation required by EMTALA to determine whether a person who comes to an emergency department has an emergency medical condition. |
| MTP | Massive transfusion protocol | Hospital protocol that rapidly delivers large amounts of blood products, typically red cells, plasma and platelets in balanced ratios, to patients with life-threatening… |
| MVA | Motor vehicle accident | Older and still common term for a crash involving motor vehicles, used in emergency, insurance and police records. |
| MVC | Motor vehicle collision | Crash involving one or more motor vehicles, a leading mechanism of injury in emergency and trauma records. |
| NAT | Non-accidental trauma | Injury intentionally inflicted on a child or vulnerable person, the clinical term for physical abuse. |
| NEXUS | National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study | Clinical decision rule identifying blunt trauma patients who do not need cervical spine imaging: no midline neck tenderness, no focal neurological deficit, normal… |
| NOI | Nature of illness | EMS term for the main reason a medical (non-trauma) patient called for help, such as chest pain, difficulty breathing or altered mental status. |
| NPA | Nasopharyngeal airway | Soft tube inserted through a nostril into the back of the throat to keep the airway open, tolerated by patients who still have a gag reflex. |
| NRP | Neonatal Resuscitation Program | Course and algorithm from the American Academy of Pediatrics, with the American Heart Association, for resuscitating newborns at birth. |
| OD | Overdose | Ingestion, injection or inhalation of a substance in an amount causing toxic effects, intentional or accidental. |
| OHCA | Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest | Cardiac arrest that occurs outside a hospital, at home, in public or in transit. |
| OPA | Oropharyngeal airway | Curved plastic device inserted into the mouth to keep the tongue from blocking the airway in unconscious patients without a gag reflex. |
| PALS | Pediatric Advanced Life Support | American Heart Association course and algorithms for recognizing and treating respiratory failure, shock and cardiopulmonary arrest in infants and children. |
| PASG | Pneumatic anti-shock garment | Inflatable trousers placed around the legs and abdomen to compress them, once used by EMS to treat shock and stabilize pelvic fractures. |
| PAT | Pediatric assessment triangle | Rapid "across the room" assessment of a child using three components: appearance, work of breathing and circulation to the skin. |
| PCR | Patient care report | Legal record of an EMS encounter documenting dispatch information, assessment, vital signs, treatments, times and transfer of care. |
| PEARS | Pediatric Emergency Assessment, Recognition and Stabilization | American Heart Association course for healthcare providers who see critically ill children infrequently, such as general nurses and clinic staff, teaching recognition… |
| PECARN | Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network | US research network for pediatric emergency care, best known for its head injury rules that identify children at very low risk of serious brain injury who can safely… |
| PEM | Pediatric emergency medicine | Subspecialty focused on the emergency care of infants, children and adolescents, practiced in children's hospital emergency departments and pediatric areas of general… |
| PERC | Pulmonary Embolism Rule-out Criteria | Eight-item decision rule used in patients with low clinical suspicion of pulmonary embolism. |
| PHTLS | Prehospital Trauma Life Support | Trauma care course for EMS providers and other prehospital clinicians, developed by the National Association of EMTs with the American College of Surgeons Committee on… |
| POLST | Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment | Portable medical order form for seriously ill or frail patients that records decisions about CPR, level of medical intervention and artificial nutrition. |
| POV | Privately owned vehicle | Service member's personal car or motorcycle, as distinct from government vehicles. |
| PSAP | Public safety answering point | Call center that answers 911 calls and dispatches or transfers them to police, fire or EMS. |
| qSOFA | Quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment | Bedside sepsis risk tool with three criteria: respiratory rate of 22 or more, altered mentation and systolic blood pressure of 100 or less. |
| ROSC | Return of spontaneous circulation | Restoration of a sustained heartbeat producing a pulse and blood pressure after cardiac arrest. |
| RSI | Rapid sequence intubation | Technique for emergency airway management in which a sedative induction agent and a paralytic are given in rapid succession, followed by intubation, to minimize the… |
| RTS | Revised Trauma Score | Physiological trauma score combining Glasgow Coma Scale, systolic blood pressure and respiratory rate, each coded from 0 to 4. |
| SALT | Sort, assess, lifesaving interventions, treatment/transport | Mass casualty triage method that first sorts patients by movement, then assesses individuals, performs quick lifesaving interventions and assigns categories. |
| SAMPLE | Signs and symptoms, allergies, medications, past history, last oral intake, events | EMS and first aid history mnemonic for gathering essential information quickly from a patient or bystanders. |
| SIRS | Systemic inflammatory response syndrome | Set of criteria describing the body's widespread inflammatory response: abnormal temperature, heart rate above 90, respiratory rate above 20 or low PaCO2, and abnormal… |
| SMR | Spinal motion restriction | Approach to protecting the spine in trauma patients that limits unnecessary movement using a cervical collar, padding and careful handling, rather than strapping… |
| START | Simple Triage and Rapid Treatment | Mass casualty triage method that sorts patients within seconds by ability to walk, breathing, perfusion and mental status into immediate (red), delayed (yellow), minor… |
| SW | Stab wound | Penetrating injury from a knife or other sharp object, documented by location, length and suspected depth. |
| TBSA | Total body surface area | Percentage of the body's skin surface affected by a burn, used to estimate severity, calculate fluid needs and decide on transfer to a burn center. |
| TCCC | Tactical Combat Casualty Care | Military guidelines for battlefield trauma care, divided into care under fire, tactical field care and tactical evacuation care. |
| TNCC | Trauma Nursing Core Course | Emergency Nurses Association course teaching a systematic trauma nursing assessment and care process. |
| TOD | Time of death | Time at which a patient is declared dead, recorded by the physician or authorized clinician after confirming absence of pulse, breathing and heart sounds, or by brain… |
| TOR | Termination of resuscitation | Decision to stop resuscitation efforts in cardiac arrest when further attempts are judged futile, made by a physician or under EMS protocols. |
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