ASHICE is a mnemonic acronym used by emergency personnel to efficiently communicate key details about a patient's condition when transferring them to another medical facility by radio. It stands for Age, Sex, History, Injuries/Illness, Condition, and Estimated Time of Arrival. IMIST-AMBO is a standardized handover protocol for transferring patient information from emergency medical technicians and paramedics to emergency department clinicians during patient handoff. It includes identifying the patient, describing the mechanism/medical complaint, injuries/information, signs, treatment and trends, allergies, medications, background history, and other relevant information. Maintaining a 20-30 second uninterrupted period for the initial details and encouraging questions ensures

1. ASHICE
ASHICE is mnemonic acronym used to pass the important details of a patient’s condition to a
receiving facility.1
It is a radio reporting tool, NOT a handover tool.
Age Patient's age in years or months
Sex Male or female
History What happened to the patient? (collapse, MVA, fall etc.)
Injuries/Illness What injuries or illnesses? (fractured femur, laceration, chest pain etc.)
Condition Vital signs (HR, BP, EtCO2 etc.) and pertinent interventions (chest
compressions ongoing, analgesia provided etc.)
ETA Estimated Time of Arrival to the hospital
IMIST-AMBO
IMIST-AMBO details the standard manner in which EMTs and paramedics should hand over
information regarding a patient to ED clinicians or nursing staff.2
 IMIST-AMBO aligns with the ISBAR mnemonic for handover.
 Maintain a 20-30 second period where the patient remains on the stretcher and deliver
IMIST information uninterrupted
 Encourage questions on completion of IMIST and again at the end of AMBO
 Treating EMT or paramedic to remain with the patient during handover
Identification Identify the patient by name, gender, age
Mechanism / Medical complaint Presenting problem and how it happened
Injuries / Information related to the complaint Injuries found, symptoms, duration
Signs Vital signs – HR, RR, BP, Temp, SpO2, BGL etc.
Treatment and Trends Treatment administered and response to same
ALLOW FOR QUESTIONS
Allergies Any drug or other allergies the patient has
Medication Regular medications, prescribed or illicit
Background history Patients pertinent past medical history
Other information e.g. social conditions, relatives, info from scene
ALLOW FOR QUESTIONS
References
1. Budd HR, Almond LM, Porter K. A survey of trauma alert criteria and handover practice in
England and Wales. Emergency Medicine Journal : EMJ. 2007;24(4):302-304.
2. Iedema R, Ball C, Daly B, Young J, Green T, Middleton PM, Foster-Curry C, Jones M, Hoy S,
Comerford D. Design and trial of a new ambulance-to-emergency department handover
protocol: 'IMIST-AMBO'. BMJ Qual Saf. 2012 Aug;21(8):627-33