Emergency Care: Medical emergency is a condition in which it is certain that any delay in seeking immediate medical care can lead to hazardous results.
The scope of emergency medicine has improved a lot since the last few years. A lot of people are aging and are developing geriatric diseases, some of which may demand emergency medical attention. Emergency medical technicians will be thus required more and more to meet these demands. Apart from aging diseases, people develop chronic illnesses from a very young age, which along with severe surgical issues require specialized attention.
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As a system, what it should ideally comprise of?
In any renowned hospital (well equipped with staff and facilities), this is like a whole system altogether with various components. Each of these components plays its role to coordinate with the emergency or intensive medical care. It should include:
- Good communication and transport networks
- Well trained professionals including a team of physicians, therapists, nurses, volunteers, etc.
- A particular team that is well aware of what steps to take in case of medical emergencies
- Trauma centres and other specialty care centres
The emergency care unit is never kept apart from other hospital systems. Rather it is often integrated with other systems and services of the hospital. This helps in improving and maintaining the overall health and safety of the patients.
The unit may be modified to play a bigger role in some healthcare groups
It has been seen that the emergency care unit is transformed into a whole system which juggles between healthcare, public safety and health. With the combination of resources and principles this systems have proved their effectiveness. In cities (and also in certain developing and rural areas), these services have been instrumental in reducing mortality rates considerably. Patients get treatment in time and are able to go back to a normal and healthy life.
There are staffs that can identify severe health issues first and know what immediate treatment should be provided to the patient. The physicians and other staffs respond to every type of emergency and hazards. For this they coordinate with their colleagues who cater to public safety and are able to frame tips which can be applied by anyone at the time of immediate action. However, the primary concern of them remains emergency medical attention to patients who need it.
Emergency care services include a lot
The emergency care unit in a hospital can include a lot of services, ambulance for instance. It very much includes services which involve moving critically ill patients from one facility to others. This is known as the inter-facility transport. Some healthcare groups are often funded by a local government for their emergency medical care services.
Knowing about ALS and BLS
Advance Life Support or ALS involves advanced procedure performance on a patient which includes processes such as cardiac monitoring.
BLS or Basic Life Support is a specific medical care that is performed by trained staff. A number of life-saving processes are included in this like:
- Airway (protecting and maintaining patient airway using oral or nasal airway)
- Breathing (facilitating air flow through respiration, artificial or natural respiration with oxygen)
- Circulation (Blood movement through heart beating or performing emergency acts like CPR)
