If you've ever fumbled through a pre-alert call with half your brain still on the patient and half on remembering what comes next, you're not alone. Two frameworks dominate UK ambulance pre-alerts and handovers: ATMIST and SBAR. Knowing when to reach for which one will make you sound calm and organised, even when the job wasn't.
ATMIST
ATMIST is built for speed and clinical urgency - it's the standard for trauma and often time-critical medical pre-alerts:
- A — Age
- T — Time of incident
- M — Mechanism of injury
- I — Injuries suspected
- S — Signs (vital signs)
- T — Treatment given
Notice what's missing: no past medical history, no medications, no social context. That's deliberate. A pre-alert is not a full handover — it's an early warning shot so the receiving team can prepare the right resources before you arrive.
SBAR
SBAR is more conversational and works better for handovers once you're actually with the receiving clinician it is often used to give medical Pre-alerts too dependant on the clinicians own experience, or for non-trauma calls where context matters more than speed:
- S — Situation
- B — Background
- A — Assessment
- R — Recommendation
SBAR gives you room to explain your clinical reasoning, not just list findings.
Which one should you use?
Rule of thumb: if you're calling ahead before you arrive, and time/mechanism matters more, use ATMIST. If you're handing over face to face and want to explain your thinking such as a medical pre-alert, use SBAR.
Struggling to remember the order under pressure? That's exactly what our free Pre-Alert and Handover Templates are built for.