https://punchng.com/what-constitutes-a-medical-emergency/
Dr. SYLVESTER IKHISEMOJIE FROM PUNCH
The word ‘emergency’ is a much abused one in the context of providing healthcare in our country. It is a common scene to find a group of concerned relatives storming emergency rooms across the country’s hospitals and screaming emergency. While some of these cases are genuine emergencies, it is an over-utilized term designed to attract the prompt attention that the incoming people seek. Sometimes, it is because someone they know or have come across has developed a certain condition of sudden onset that can be considered a threat to life. At other times, it is just a ruse to cover their neglect of the ill person over a period of time. There are certain important medical conditions that are considered as emergency medical situations and some of these conditions are itemized below:
- Difficulties with breathing occurring in any person at any age including conditions like asthma.
- If some person suddenly collapses by becoming unconscious or fainting.
- Any kind of epileptic seizure or fit especially when it results in a fall or loss of consciousness.
- A stroke once it is recognized as one.
- Severe pain occurring in any part of the body.
- A heart attack.
- Any form of obvious bleeding or suspected bleeding especially from serious injuries, cuts or wounds.
- Low blood sugar level especially in those people who have diabetes.
However, it is not possible to be prepared for every conceivable kind of emergency. What is useful to know is that any situation in which waiting for normal care in a healthcare setting is likely to be dangerous to your life or part of your body, that situation will qualify as an emergency. Therefore, active labour that begins suddenly in a pregnant woman can be considered an emergency especially when the patient is taken unawares and has had no time to prepare. So also, is a severe injury or a serious illness of sudden onset otherwise described as an acute condition.
In many countries around the world, the beginning of the rendition of care to a person in a dire emergency situation often starts with the ambulance crews available within a few minutes at an address that had dialled the specific emergency code for such purposes. On paper, this service also exists in Nigeria, but you and I know that the reality is very different. In such countries and cities around the world, the crews are trained for the important work they do, and they are empowered to deliver that initial service before the victims are whisked off to the nearest hospital. To that extent, the hospitals in the area tend to have similar competences and be almost equally staffed. When additional specialized services are required, the hospitals within the vicinity can suitably direct the ambulance crews or commit to providing the important stabilizing services before referring such patients to a more advanced or more specialized hospital. In many countries, therefore, such capabilities have been advanced to include emergency air ambulance services that can take such patients very quickly to the required hospital where the necessary personnel are on standby. The meaning of this, of course, is that such hospitals possess helipads for the swift handover of such patients to hospital staff. It is sometimes laughable to see ambulances in Nigeria stuck in traffic because other motorists do not believe that they are conveying genuine patients.
