Welcome to this micro lecture on the commonly used acronym IMIST AMBO, which is a step by step process of communicating patient information to form a concise structured handover. The key points of your patient’s history is in most cases delivered verbally to the next healthcare professional taking charge of your patient and it must be done correctly, assertively and clearly to ensure a systematic approach.
Most paramedics use the IMIST AMBO acronym as follows.
I is for identification, which is the patient’s name, gender, and age.
For example, this is John, a 65 year old male.
M is for mechanism of injury or medical complaint. This means that it’s the presenting problem.
For example, John was complaining of left-sided chest.
The next I is for injuries or information.
For example, Johnny suffering, left-sided chest pain today. And John has a past medical history of a previous myocardial infarction in 2018, in which he received a stent as a result of.
S is for signs, where you state any abnormal, vital signs, including the patient’s GCs score. If it is under 50.
For example, John is tachycardic with a pain score of nine out of 10, and on-scene his saturations were only at 88% St. Elevation was noted on his ECG and John’s GCs is currently 13. He is confused and his eyes are opening to speech and then you state or other ob’s were non-remarkable.
T stands for treatment and trends, which is what have we given the patient? How have we intervened? And then how has the patient responded?
For example, John received 300 milligrams of oral aspirin, 400 miles of sublingual, GTN, 25 mikes of I M fentanyl and 15 liters of oxygen via a non-rebreather mask to good effect.
A is for allergies. For example, John, our patient is allergic to paracetamal and latex.
M is for medications that your patient regularly takes including prescription and over the counter drugs.
Our patient John takes daily aspirin and warfarin, and any medication packets, belonging to the patient can also be handed over to the treating physician.
B stands for background. So this includes other history that’s relevant to the particular case.
For example, John, he attended this hospital last year for a stent surgery.
And finally, O is for other information, which includes scene characteristics, how we found the patient cultural, religious considerations and belongings or valuable with the patient.
For example, our patient John lives alone and he follows the Buddhism faith.
Be sure to check out the demonstration of this handover in the video above.
The more you practice IMISTAMBO, the more you’ll remember what each letter stands for. Practice always makes perfect!