How to Recognize Medical Emergencies

Medical emergencies pose a direct threat to a person's health or wellbeing. They can come from an accident or from a traumatic injury. They can also be the result of the deterioration of a medical problem or illness to the point of harming the person's health or life. The severity of the emergency dictates the level of care for treatment interventions.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Familiarize yourself with the types of problems that don't require medical intervention. These include rashes such a poison ivy, bruises, minor scrapes, colds, coughs and minor cuts. Many of these can be handled with simple over the counter medications or treatments.
2. Contact your physician if you don't know what type of medical care you require. Your physician can direct you to the proper care after eliciting your signs and symptoms.
3. Visit an urgent care center if you need medical care that can't wait until your doctor can see you such as at night or on the weekend. These facilities treat people who need stitches, x-rays and other minor, urgent but not life threatening problems. Other examples include earaches, sprains, minor lacerations, fever no more than 102 or cold-like symptoms.
4. Call for an ambulance immediately when something serious occurs that requires medically trained personnel en route to the hospital. Things such as trauma resulting from a car accident, head injury, possible ingestion of a poisonous substance, breathing difficulties or chest pain can require an ambulance. The treatment for such things relies on expediting care.
5. Assess for the severity and the cause of pain. Various disorders manifest themselves with pain and if left for too long without treatment can have drastic consequences.
6. Watch for dehydration which can occur as a result of excessive diarrhea or vomiting. You can monitor for dehydration by watching for a decrease in urination, dry mouth or loss of skin turgor. Dehydration can result in a chemical imbalance which leads to problems with your vital organs.
7. Bring a list of all the medications you take when you visit the emergency room or urgent care center. The medications may help the doctor figure out the reason for your emergency and allow her to give you a safe treatment that doesn't react with your current medications.