Comments on: Learning DCAPBTLS (A word of advice)

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:43:19 +0000

I realize this is an old post but I’m going to chime in anyway. I took EMT around 1998 or 1999 and had to memorize DCAP-BTLS and actually can also still rattle it off!

Of course, a humorous classmate helped it stay in our heads: Decapitate Bottles. I can’t look at that acronym without associating it with Decapitating Bottles and the many drills we had as we all studied together for the test!

We had an excellent instructor and he made sure we knew well what we were saying at every moment, to the degree that he even made us rehearse how to give a full report, without hesitation, almost making it second nature by the time we took the test (where, of course, that wasn’t a skill that was tested). He was trying to prepare us for the real world, not just the test. I wish all EMT students had an instructor like him.

By: halfpint

halfpint — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:57:34 +0000

So im in EMT-B class right now getting ready to take the big one next week and you all are saying that it would be better for me to say during the skills test to say im checking for abnormalities? They have drilled DCAPBTLS in our heads forever but half the people in my class couldnt tell you what it ment if their lives depended on it. I just need to get this all straight i mean granted i know what it means and i repeat it back to myself in my sleep, but will it help at all?

By: Steve Whitehead

Steve Whitehead — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:44:26 +0000

@Robyn OK Robyn…you asked. I didn’t know it was burns because, as I explained in the article, I don’t find this acronym useful and I don’t teach it to my students and I don’t recomend they memorize it or use it. I also addressed my thought on the bruising / burns error in the comments section already.

However, I went ahead and corrected the error in the article, so in the future, if people don’t read the whole article or the following comments before leaving their comment, they won’t experience similar confusion.

Regarding your information on the use of the acronym in national registry stations, this may have been a particular rule that your station proctors chose to enforce, (I think it’s a good rule) but it isn’t a part of the National Registry BLS instructors handbook or any other guidelines I’ve encountered. If you feel this is a true national standard you’re going to need to site a source.

By: Steve Whitehead

Steve Whitehead — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:35:55 +0000

@ J. Thanks for your comment.

@ Ron Thanks for clarifying the TIC stuff. I imagine people were still identifying crepitus and instability before we updated the acronym, but it’s nice to know what the TIC folks are talking about. ..and cheers to you.

@Stephen You make a very good point sir. And I should clarify. Yes, every thing discussed in the aronym is knowledge that an EMT needs to know. What’s a contusion? What does it look like. What does instability mean? What does crepitus look like?

I spend 3 hours teaching students how to classify and treat burns. That information is essential. Combining all of those types of abnormalities into a single word that few EMTs can remember and then using that word to collectively describe “abnormalities” is not helpful. In fact, at best, it’s useless and at worst, it’s counterproductive.

By: Robyn

Robyn — Sun, 02 May 2010 02:22:16 +0000

The second I seen “bruising” list for the “B” in DCAPBTLS I knew that was wrong. As corrected earlier it does stand for “burns”. I can understand when somebody not familiar with the acronym or EMS not knowing that. Obviously many people overlooked that in the article. But Steve you wrote that article. Why didn’t you realize what you were writing was wrong? By the way National Registry for EMT’s require that all acronym be stated before the test. The meaning of the acronyms have to be given at that time too. Otherwise if somebody tries to use it during testing they are stopped and questioned while their time is running.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 03:02:04 +0000

It is just to classify and to memorize the “abnormalities.” . It think it is very helpful. If someone who is a medical student or someone in the field, and he/she don’t know what all the abnormalities are, he/she should study again. You can not blame the system, blame the student/technician. I think this acronym is very helpful, especially when you find any abnormality, you can then use the correct word to describe it. It is true that when you are in the field, you basically just need to find “abnormalities”, but this acronym is to help the student to be education. Otherwise, what the teacher should teach student in the classroom? just look for abnormalities? Then student will ask what the abnormalities are, what if you only have the bystander who is on the phone with you, how will you help the bystander to identify the “abnormalities?

By: Ron

Ron — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:03:48 +0000

Sorry.
BSI, not BSE. Type-O

By: Ron

Ron — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:54:02 +0000

I just wanted to make a note that on the arrival, it is mandatory to put on your gloves and any other BSE/PPE. Otherwise you risk your own health. That one of the first things they teach you in EMR. Secondly, the DCAPBTLS- TIC has changed slightly in most institutions now. This has been changed to DCAPBLS- TIC. Notice the difference? There’s a T missing in BTLS. Why? Cause when you look for TIC’s, your checking for “Tenderness” so there’s no need to chech for it twice after the first examination you did 2 seconds ago.
Deformadies
Contusions
Abbrasions
Penetrations
Burns
Lacerations
Swelling
Tenderness
Instability
Crepitus

Cheers!

By: J.

J. — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:18:33 +0000

I’ll second the “burns” in BTLS, bruise / contusion is essentially the same.
I think the mnemonic is fine, so long as you remember what they are. Is it good for in the field? no… but when you’re first starting out, it helps you remember a bunch of different injuries you should be looking for. Is it perfect? no, but it has its place in the learning curve. On that note, there is no perfect way to do a call, but rather many ways of achieving the same result.

By: Steve Whitehead

Steve Whitehead — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:05:03 +0000

@Greg, Nice link. Maybe we should consider just OS.

@Sarah Another great weakness of complicated acronyms. The variations go on and on and on …