Communication and handover: DipIMC practice questions
PHEM curriculum unit B.4 · Cross-cutting theme B: Team Resource Management
The DipIMC is blueprinted against phase 1 of the UK Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM) curriculum. This page covers unit B.4, Communicate effectively.
Below are 2 free practice questions from the DipIMC.Ninja bank, in the Part A single best answer format. Every answer names the textbook page, guideline or statute it was written from, so you can check it rather than take it on trust. The bank holds 18 questions on this unit.
Question 1 · Law, Ethics & Human Factors · Easy
In the graded assertiveness model PACE, what do the letters stand for?
APause, Assess, Communicate, Escalate
BProbe, Alert, Challenge, Emergency
CPause, Alert, Clarify, Escalate
DPrompt, Assert, Confront, Escalate
EPrepare, Announce, Confirm, Execute
Show answer
Answer: B
Probe, Alert, Challenge, Emergency
PACE stands for Probe, Alert, Challenge, Emergency: a stepped way of voicing a concern about a colleague's decision, rising in assertiveness from a question to an emergency call to stop. The Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust simulation programme cited here introduces the PACE acronym to help participants communicate when faced with a steep hierarchical gradient, noting that a hierarchy, whether perceived or real, can contribute to a reluctance to challenge decision making. Queensland Health's crew resource management training material gives the same expansion, describing PACE as a four-step technique of increasing urgency.
law-005 · Law, Ethics & Human Factors · Human Factors · Easy · v4
Question 2 · Law, Ethics & Human Factors · Easy
In the ATMIST handover, what does the letter S represent?
AScene safety and hazards encountered
BSigns, including vital signs and GCS
CSeverity score from the triage tool
DSecondary survey findings at scene
ESpinal immobilisation already applied
Show answer
Answer: B
Signs, including vital signs and GCS
ATMIST is the structured trauma pre-alert and handover: Age (and sex), Time of incident, Mechanism of injury, Injuries suspected, Signs including vital signs and GCS, and Treatment so far, followed by the estimated time of arrival. NICE NG39 asks for exactly this dataset to be recorded using a structured system, and NHS trauma network guidance, such as the South East Scotland major trauma pre-alert, sets it out as ATMIST. The S is therefore Signs: the observations and their trend. Scene safety, a severity score and secondary survey findings are not ATMIST elements, and spinal immobilisation belongs under treatment. A concise structured handover is recommended because it avoids omitting information. Do not confuse it with the Oxford Handbook's paediatric handover, which uses MIST with S for Symptoms.
ABC of Prehospital Emergency Medicinep. 178Ch. 32 Retrieval and Transport · Communication and handover“The use of a concise structured handover is recommended”
law-006 · Law, Ethics & Human Factors · Human Factors · Easy · v4