Medical emergency

   

A medical emergency is an injury or illness that poses an immediate threat to a person's health or life which requires help from a doctor or hospital. The doctor's specialization of emergency medicine includes techniques for effective handling of medical emergencies and resuscitation of patients.

Responding to medical emergencies

The proper way to handle a medical emergency is to activate emergency medical services and call for help using your local emergency telephone number, such as 911 if you are in Canada or the United States, 999 in the UK, 112 in most of continential Europe, 000 in Australia and 111 in New Zealand. Be ready to give your name and location, and to tell what is wrong with the person you are calling about. Answer the questions you are asked truthfully.

If you are trained to perform first aid, do what you can to care for the victim. If you are not, remain calm and stay with the person. Do not allow others to crowd around unless their presence is needed. Do not evacuate the victim yourself unless you are either completely confident of your ability to do so or have no other alternative (as in wilderness first aid). Self-transport should be to the nearest emergency room.

If a person is not breathing, artificial respiration may be immediately required to save their life. Artificial respiration is part of CPR training. An emergency medical technician or paramedic can use airway management techniques to help a person who is not breathing, which is one reason to call for help. If a person is not breathing and their heart is not beating (i.e., no pulse), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is necessary to sustain life until help arrives.

Listing of medical emergencies

The following is a list of symptoms and conditions that signal or constitute medical emergencies and require immediate first aid if available. Note that this list is not exhaustive in any way.

Clinical response to medical emergencies

An emergency medicine physician should be available at all times. Know and follow your facility procedures, including "Code Blue" as appropriate. Crash carts are maintained for use in medical emergencies in the hospital setting. Be certain to keep your CPR and ACLS certifications current.

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