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.

Note: Wikipedia does not provide medical advice. If you have a medical problem, you should seek expert help.

Table of contents

1 Responding To Medical Emergencies 2 List of Medical Emergencies 3 Hospital and clinical response to medical emergencies 4 Related Topics

Responding To Medical Emergencies

The proper way to handle a medical emergency is to activate the emergency medical services and call for help using your local emergency telephone number, such as 9-1-1 if you are in Canada or the United States. Be ready to give your location and tell what is wrong with the person you are calling about. Answer the questions you are asked.

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 keep them alive until help arrives.

List of Medical Emergencies

Many medical emergency conditions are listed below, with specific information, advice, and first aid measures listed as part of the entry. As always, comprehensive training in advance is the best way to go.

AGAIN WITH EMPHASIS Note: Wikipedia does not provide medical advice. If you have a medical problem, you should seek expert help.

suggested topic headers for medical emergencies: Definition | Causes | Diagnosis | First Aid | Field Care (for EMTs) | Clinical Treatment | References | External Links -- if you don't know, leave it blank

• Cardiac
  • Aortic dissection
  • Cardiac arrest
  • cardiac arrhythmia
  • Cardiac tamponade
  • Heart attack
  • Ventricular fibrillation
• Illness
  • Poisoning, poisonous snake bite
  • Electric shock
• Injury
  • Severe burn
  • Head trauma
  • Severe blood loss or bleeding
• Neurological
  • Cerebrovascular accident ("stroke")
  • Transient ischemic attack
• Respiratory
  • Asphyxia
  • Choking
  • near drowning
  • Epiglottitis
  • pneumothorax
• Shock
  • Allergic or anaphylactic shock
• Metabolic emergencies
  • diabetic coma
    • diabetic ketoacidosis
    • hypoglycemic coma
• Gynecologic / Obstetric / Urological
  • ectopic pregnancy
  • gynecologic hemorrhage
  • priapism - a urological emergency
  • sexual assault
  • testicular torsion

• please add more to this list

Hospital and 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.

Related Topics

• call for help
• first aid
• wilderness first aid
• emergency medical service
  • emergency medical technician
  • paramedic
  • nurse