Myth vs Fact Guide: Patient Assessment & Triage for EMTs

Introduction

In emergency care, incorrect assumptions and outdated beliefs can lead to poor clinical decisions, unsafe triage outcomes, and ineffective emergency preparedness. For Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), it is essential to differentiate myths from evidence-based practice—especially when designing and following emergency response plans, meeting legal requirements, and conducting patient assessment and triage in real-world situations.
This Myth vs Fact Activity corrects common misconceptions faced by EMT learners and strengthens accurate understanding aligned with UK standards (including Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Human Medicines Regulations 2012, NHS England Clinical Guidelines, and JRCALC guidance).

MYTH vs FACT TABLE – Patient Assessment & Triage

Myth	Fact (Evidence Based)	Why It Matters for EMT Practice	Links to Learning Outcomes
“Triage is only for masscasualty events.”	Triage is an ongoing process used in all emergency patient encounters to prioritise care.	Ensures consistent assessment and prioritisation in both routine and large-scale incidents.	Supports designing emergency response plans and conducting effective assessments.
“The primary survey (ABCDE) is only for trauma patients.”	ABCDE applies to every patient, including medical emergencies, to quickly identify life threats.	Reinforces universal, structured assessment.	Ensures legal compliance with professional standards (JRCALC).
“You must always move the patient immediately to start treatment.”	Patients should only be moved when absolutely necessary for safety (scene danger, fire, water, collapse risk).	Prevents spinal injury or deterioration.	Supports planning safe emergency procedures.
“If a patient can talk, they are breathing adequately.”	Talking does not guarantee adequate ventilation; patients can talk even with severe respiratory distress.	Encourages EMTs to assess respiratory rate, effort, auscultation, pulse oximetry.	Ensures quality assessment techniques in triage.
“Vital signs taken once are sufficient to determine patient priority.”	Vital signs must be monitored continuously; trends matter more than single readings.	Avoids mis-triage caused by early compensation masking deterioration.	Important for reviewing and refining procedures.
“Triage tags are optional and used only in large disasters.”	Triage tags are a required documentation tool in multi-casualty response plans.	Ensures structured handover and legal documentation.	Supports legally compliant emergency systems.
“Triage systems are the same worldwide.”	The UK uses frameworks like NHS Major Incident Triage Tool (MITT) and NATO triage, which differ from global systems.	Ensures correct prioritisation aligned with UK standards.	Ensures compliance with local legal and industry needs.
“CPR must always be started immediately on all unresponsive patients.”	CPR is not started if the patient has valid DNACPR, signs of irreversible death, or if doing so places responder at risk.	Protects EMTs from legal violation (Care Act 2014, Mental Capacity Act 2005).	Supports legally compliant response actions.
“All patients with chest pain should be triaged the same.”	Etiology varies—cardiac, respiratory, musculoskeletal, anxiety—requiring different clinical urgency.	Prevents over- or under-triage.	Ensures accurate patient assessment and priority decisions.
“Highvisibility jackets and PPE are optional if the scene looks safe.”	UK law (Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974) requires employers/workers to use PPE for foreseeable risks.	Protects EMT safety; ensures legal compliance.	Supports designing safe emergency procedures.
“You must have patient consent before any assessment.”	In emergencies, EMTs operate under implied consent unless patient refuses with capacity (MCA 2005).	Ensures legally safe and timely assessment.	Ensures legal compliance in triage decisions.
“Manual blood pressure is always more accurate than automated devices.”	Both can be accurate; automated devices are acceptable when calibrated and used appropriately.	Encourages evidence-based equipment use.	Supports testing and refining assessment procedures.
“A calm patient is always a stable patient.”	Calmness may mask shock, hypoxia, or internal bleeding; behavioural signs are unreliable alone.	Promotes full assessment, not assumptions.	Supports effective triage decisions.
“Oxygen should be given to all breathless patients.”	UK guidelines require targeted oxygen therapy to avoid harm (e.g., COPD risk of CO₂ retention).	Improves clinical safety and aligns with JRCALC.	Supports legally aligned emergency response practice.
“Once you finish an incident response plan, it doesn’t need revising until an emergency occurs.”	Emergency response plans must be tested regularly with drills, reviews, and audits.	Ensures readiness and legal compliance.	Directly supports conducting drills and refining procedures.

UK LAWS & REGULATIONS LINKED TO THESE FACTS

Law / Regulation	Relevance to Patient Assessment & Triage
Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974	Requires safe systems of work, PPE use, and risk assessment in emergency scenes.
Mental Capacity Act 2005	Governs consent, implied consent, and decision-making for patients lacking capacity.
Care Act 2014	Care Act 2014Protects adults at risk; guides safeguarding decisions during assessment.
Human Medicines Regulations 2012	Governs safe use, administration, and storage of emergency medicines.
NHS England Emergency Preparedness, Resilience & Response (EPRR) Framework	Sets requirements for organisational emergency planning and triage readiness.
JRCALC Clinical Guidelines (UK)	Provides standards for assessment, airway management, oxygen therapy, and triage.
Civil Contingencies Act 2004	Requires emergency services to prepare, train, and cooperate in major incident response.

LEARNER TASK

Myth vs Fact Reflection & Application Task

Instructions:

Complete the following three-part task to demonstrate understanding of accurate triage knowledge and its relevance to UK-standard emergency practice.

Task A – Identify the Misconception

Choose three myths from the table that you personally believed beforehand or found
surprising.
For each:

1. Write the myth.
2. Explain why it is incorrect.
3. Summarise the correct fact in your own words.

Task B – Apply to a Workplace Scenario

For ANY two myths you selected, create a short emergency scenario (3–5 sentences) where believing that myth would lead to:

• an unsafe assessment,
• a legal risk, or
• an incorrect triage decision.

Then explain how applying the correct fact would improve the outcome.

Task C – Link to UK Legal & Industry Requirements

Choose one UK law listed above.
Explain how the fact (not the myth) supports compliance with that law in real patient
assessment or triage.