What is an emergency medicine specialist and what do they do?
Emergency medicine specialists, also called emergency physicians or emergency room (ER) doctors, are trained in acute illnesses or injuries that need immediate medical attention. They diagnose and treat a variety of illnesses and stabilize patients to prepare them for additional care (such as surgery) or for release after treatment. Emergency medicine doctors typically practice in hospital emergency rooms or other emergency-care facilities, as well as urgent care facilities.
The knowledge base of emergency medicine specialists is very broad, as they need vast education and training in aspects of anesthesiology, cardiology, surgery, plastic surgery, orthopedics and other specialties. Their training, however, emphasizes stabilization of the critically ill patient. Education includes four years of medical school followed by 3-5 years of specialty training. They are certified after an examination administered by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.What sort of emergencies require a trip to the ER?
ER doctors must be quick on their feet and able to make split-second decisions. A constant flow of patients with illness or trauma present themselves to the ER day and night. Emergency medicine specialists work quickly to evaluate, stabilize, diagnose and treat the problems they encounter. They may see diseases or injuries ranging from a broken finger to a cocaine overdose, from gunshot wounds to severe infections, and from blunt trauma from motor vehicle accidents to heart attack, cardiac arrest, stroke and even delivering babies. Part of the daily duties might include reading X-rays, performing screening examinations, suturing lacerations, and examining victims of sexual assault. Also, it is common for other physicians to refer their patients to the ER when they feel the patient needs emergent treatment. It is the responsibility of the emergency physician to inform family and loved ones should the patient not survive their illness or injury.
ERs are open 24/7, meaning they must be staffed around the clock. ER doctors may have a varied schedule or work shifts, including night shifts or day shifts often lasting 10 hours or more. What should I expect if I ever need to visit an ER for emergency care?
Emergency departments work on a system of triage. In the ER, this means that the most severe cases are evaluated first. You may arrive in an ER and have to wait to see a doctor, depending on the severity of your illness. If your case is severe, you will be taken into a room called a “resuscitation bay,” where doctors and nurses will assess your condition and administer treatment.
The triage system assigns a numerical rating denoting acuity (severity) of illness and, as such, the order in which patients will be seen by a physician. Levels range from 1-5, with five being the least severe. Level 1 acuity cases are the most severe, and could include traumatic injuries such as serious car accidents and falls (blunt trauma) or gunshot and stab wounds (penetrating trauma). Other Level 1 conditions include cardiac arrest, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, internal bleeding and severe infections, among others.
With respect to trauma, hospitals in the United States are designated Level 1-3 (some states have Level 4 and 5) based on their trauma management capabilities. A Level 1 trauma center treats the most severe trauma cases, and these centers have trauma surgeons on staff. A Level 2 trauma center will receive minor trauma, and so on. The system functions as such: Paramedics responding to a 911 call contact the regional hospital ER “base station” that determines which hospital should receive the patient. If it is major trauma, the patient is taken to a Level 1 trauma center and may bypass a Level 2 center on its way. On the other hand, most hospital ERs, regardless of trauma designation, are medical receiving facilities, and major illness such as heart attack and stroke will go to the nearest available hospital. In other words, medical receiving hospitals and trauma receiving hospitals are not mutually exclusive. The United States has, by far, the most advanced EMS system in the world. What are the most common conditions emergency medicine specialists treat?
Related Articles: Pregnancy Health Center How to Prevent and Treat Urinary Tract Infections Chest Pain in Women: Heartburn or Heart Attack? First Aid: 10 Medicine-Cabinet Must-Haves
- Cardiovascular complaint
- Head injury
- Heart attack
- Non-insulin-dependent diabetes
- Shortness of breath
- Urinary tract complaint