What is a Medical Emergency?

A medical emergency is a serious situation that requires immediate attention and action to the illness or injury. Since the condition is life-threatening, the care required at that moment is called a medical emergency. Most of the time, the person can help themselves in an emergency situation. However, in certain situations of emergency, there is a chance that the person goes unconscious or cannot help themselves. Emergencies as such, require support from a qualified person.

Most of the times, what happens is that people start panicking when they are faced with an emergency situation. The need to practically manage the situation when people get anxious and forget how to react. Anxiety can lead to a delay in help. Therefore effective strategies must be needed to help the person in crisis. These strategies must include ways to identify between different medical conditions and methods to deal with them.

How to Deal with a Medical Emergency?

Medical emergency does not necessarily knock on the door before coming. It comes out of nowhere and gives us a little time to deal with it. It depends on the situation of the patient as to what type of care they need. It is suggested that the basics must be followed. One can easily take charge if they understand the following steps:

1. Emergency Contact Number: Keep an emergency contact number on your phone. Call 911 or the responsible number according to your country. This is the first step that you should take. Calling the emergency number will help you get the support from reliable authorities. It is suggested that people save emergency contact number in their phones.

2. Think with a Cool Mind: Stay cool and think with a calm mind. People often exacerbate the bad situation by hurting themselves during the process of helping. It is advised to stay calm during the entire process.

3. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: CPR is needed when the person finds it difficult to breathe or stops breathing. It is also needed when the heart stops. One needs to know this technique to restore the oxygenated flow of blood. This may give the person some strength to gain consciousness or help the person to breathe.

4. Wait for the Ambulance: In this part, give a check to the entire situation. Don't move the person if you think they got the spinal injury. If the person is bleeding heavily, then try to cover that area with cotton and wrap up the area. Check the level of alertness and keep an eye on the breathing rate.

5. Registration: While the person is on their way to the hospital, register them into the hospital. Tell the doctors the condition the person is in so that the required doctors are made available within time. Registration can be made after the person is admitted, but the purpose is to inform the doctors about the patient.

6. Call Doctor at Home: Sometimes, the hospital is far, or the services are unavailable due to many reasons. In such cases, always call the doctor home. A home doctor visit is the most convenient option when the patient is in a critical situation. This step may save the life of the person as it saves a lot of time. Send your driver to pick up the doctor as it will help them reach to you without painful navigation.

How to Interpret the Signs and Symptoms to Help the Patient?

How will a person be able to help if they cannot interpret the signs and symptoms? Sometimes, it becomes hard to identify illnesses. However, one can easily interpret the signs and help the person. If you are confused as to whether it is a serious problem or not, then check for symptoms.

1. Chest Pain: If the person is having pain in the chest, there is a high chance of heart attack.

2. Heavy Coughs: Heavy coughs are not a problem if they are not followed by a few things. If the person is coughing and their faces get red, then it means that the person is choking. Heimlich maneuver is the solution to this problematic situation.

3. Bleeding: Some people make a fuss about casual cuts from the knife on fingers, etc. Bleeding cannot take life until the cut is too deep and that too in certain parts of the body. However, bleeding from the nose should be taken seriously. It may be the result of high blood pressure. Therefore, take care of nose bleeding.

4. Erratic Movements: If the person is making erratic and strange movements, then assume they are having seizures. In seizures, the head of the patient jerks and the eyes may flutter. If the person falls down, make sure that he/she is not surrounded by any pointy surface. Call the doctor immediately. At that time, try not to feed the person or give any medicine orally. Keep a check on time as to how long do they last. This information will help doctors.

5. Fainting and Dizziness: If the person faints or feels dizzy, then it means that the person needs medical care. This may indicate diabetes, pregnancy, low blood sugar, etc.

Conclusion

Once you get successful in interpreting the signs, you will be able to help that person in real sense. The awareness of the illness is necessary along with the methods of dealing with a medical emergency. Even if you don’t manage to deal with the situation effectively, you will be able to buy some time.