Video narration
At bedside, a patient with DKA is tachycardic, dehydrated, and breathing deeply. Your resuscitation checklist starts by confirming DKA and severity: this is fluid loss, ketone production, and acidosis-not simply high glucose. Get monitoring and venous access, begin appropriate fluids, and look for the trigger: infection, missed insulin, infarction, or medication effects. Before insulin, check potassium. Insulin shifts it into cells, so follow your local protocol for replacement, thresholds, dosing, monitoring, and escalation; never start blindly when potassium is dangerously low. Then insulin stops ketone production. Continue fluids, adding glucose when needed so insulin can continue safely. Reassess ketones, electrolytes, acid-base status, fluid balance, and clinical condition. The glucose is falling, but the DKA is not over. Ketone clearance and acidosis resolution-not glucose alone-decide when treatment changes. Run the checklist: stabilise, make insulin safe, treat the trigger, stop ketones, and reassess until ketoacidosis resolves.