You might have heard that accidents could happen anywhere and with anyone. Sometimes you have a slight clue about the danger and curtail the damage; however, it’s just your luck. Whether it be on the individual level or global crisis, preparation is what it all comes down to, to cope with it.
Similarly, a medical emergency can strike without prior notice. It can be extremely frightening, especially if you do not know what to do when you or your loved ones experience one. Although your first thought might be to reach for the first aid box, some medical emergencies require you to visit the hospital. Knowing when to visit the hospital and when to treat a medical condition can decide whether someone lives or dies.
However, when you visit the hospital to get medical aid during a state of an emergency, you should know a few things after you arrive there. The emergency department of any hospital follows strict protocol whenever a patient comes in for immediate medical assistance. The emergency department includes healthcare staff, including doctors, nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals who adhere to strict procedures so they can provide the best possible care to the person in need of immediate treatment. Today, we will share how the staff at a healthcare institution prepare themselves when there is an announcement for a medical emergency. Some of the protocols they follow are listed below:
- TRIAGE
Triage is the first step that healthcare professionals take when there is a medical emergency. It involves checking the patient for the severity of the medical emergency. Patients who have the most severe symptoms receive treatment first. Due to this reason, someone might receive treatment before you, as they might have a more severe medical emergency than you.
A registered nurse usually takes the patient’s medical history and conducts a brief examination to gauge the severity of the emergency. According to the medical examination results, the nurse might assign the patient with a priority level, with level 1 being the highest priority and level 5 being the lowest. These triage nurses tend to receive DNP education that helps them in tackling any emergency without the presence of a doctor or physician.
- REGISTRATION OF THE PATIENT
After providing emergency treatment, the staff asks the patients or the individuals accompanying him or her to fill out the registration form. It is necessary for two reasons. It provides the emergency department staff with information about the patient to add it to their medical records and obtain consent for the required treatments.
Both of these things are necessary for the physician to diagnose the medical issue and offer treatments accordingly. A patient access specialist may sometimes ask the patient to fill out a registration form while sitting at their bedside. It happens when a patient has no one with him or her.
- OFFERING TREATMENT
Every individual who visits the emergency department of a hospital receives medical treatment from a mid-level practitioner or an attending physician. Depending on the condition of the patient, a nurse might apply an iv infusion line. It will allow nurses to administer fluids and medication to the patient with ease and without causing any discomfort to the patient.
Furthermore, a nurse might take blood and urine samples, or send the patient for an x-ray, ct-scan, or MRI, before a physician sees the patient. The results of these tests help the physicians to gauge and assess the condition of the patient. These test results might be available after an hour or two or might require more time, depending on the type of test conducted. When a patient receives treatment, the emergency department staff also ensure that you remain comfortable and well-informed. They also provide the facility for two attendants to meet the patient, one at a time.
- REVALUATION OF THE PATIENT
After providing the accessing the need for treatment, a mid-level practitioner or emergency department physician reevaluates the condition of the patient. They might refer to the test results again to gain insight into the procedure the patient needs. How their body feels is just as important as their test result, so the healthcare professional might ask them how they feel regardless of the test results.
The staff then contacts the personal physician of the patient if he or she has one. If they do not, the emergency department provides one for them. After conducting a thorough reevaluation of the patient, the on-call physician then decides whether he or she needs to be admitted to the hospital or should only be given treatment and sent home. In the case of admittance, the physician transfers the patient to a private or general room for further treatments.
- DISCHARGE
After discharging the patient, the on-call physician prescribes medications and home-care instructions for them to follow. These instructions provide information on how to safely care for their illness in case of any recurring discomfort. It is the patient’s job to understand these instructions and call the physician if they do not understand anything written on the instructions.
After one two or three days of visiting the emergency department, the hospital contacts the patient to get feedback on their stay at the hospital. This feedback is necessary as it allows the hospital to make changes to their procedures if something did not work out for the patient or if they did not like the healthcare staff’s attitude.
FINAL WORDS
It is a frightening thing to experience a medical emergency for the first time. However, once you experience it, you will gain much-needed confidence to tackle the situation and know what to do when it happens again. By any chance, if you require to visit the emergency department of a hospital, we have shared with you some steps that are involved when you go for treatment for a medical emergency. So do not worry, and do not wait when a medical emergency strikes.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.