What does CHART stand for in prehospital patient assessment?

What does CHART stand for in prehospital patient assessment?

• A. Chief complaint, History, Assessment, Rx (treatment), Transport
• B. Chief concerns, History, Analysis, Rx, Transport
• C. Case history, Assessment, Rx, Transport, Triage
• D. Chief complaint, Health history, Assessment, Rescue, Transport

Answer: (A)

CHART is a quick, structured sequence used in prehospital assessment: Chief complaint, History, Assessment, Rx, Transport. Chief complaint is the presenting problem or reason for the call, guiding immediate priorities. History adds relevant background—what happened, medications, allergies, past conditions—often gathered with a brief, focused history (such as SAMPLE). Assessment is the on-scene evaluation to identify life threats and determine the patient’s status, including airway, breathing, circulation, and mental status. Rx covers the treatments and interventions applied on scene or during transport, in line with protocols. Transport is the plan to move the patient to an appropriate facility and ensure a proper handover. This matches the standard acronym used in EMS practice, where the emphasis is on describing the presentation, gathering context, assessing for threats, providing immediate treatment, and ensuring transport. Other options use terms like health history, analysis, rescue, or triage, which aren’t the established CHART components, so they don’t fit the acronym.

CHART is a quick, structured sequence used in prehospital assessment: Chief complaint, History, Assessment, Rx, Transport.

Chief complaint is the presenting problem or reason for the call, guiding immediate priorities. History adds relevant background—what happened, medications, allergies, past conditions—often gathered with a brief, focused history (such as SAMPLE). Assessment is the on-scene evaluation to identify life threats and determine the patient’s status, including airway, breathing, circulation, and mental status. Rx covers the treatments and interventions applied on scene or during transport, in line with protocols. Transport is the plan to move the patient to an appropriate facility and ensure a proper handover.

This matches the standard acronym used in EMS practice, where the emphasis is on describing the presentation, gathering context, assessing for threats, providing immediate treatment, and ensuring transport. Other options use terms like health history, analysis, rescue, or triage, which aren’t the established CHART components, so they don’t fit the acronym.