Emergency Medicine: Difference between revisions

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[[image:angryraj.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Pictured here is a young man called "Rajin Chowdhury". His story is long one, and a sad one. Born to a hobo (as mentioned on the [[endocrine speciality|endocrine]] page), he soon slipped into a [[Addictive_Behaviour_Case_Study|drug addled]] lifestyle, that led him, aged 13, being admitted to [[intensive care]]. After 7 years in a [[coma]], due to [[brain death|brain stem death]], he eventually enrolled on a course in medicine at Sheffield University. Whilst far from being a star pupil (his brain stem death has led to him failing his exams several times already), he is beginning to pull his shabby life together into some semblance of being a real person. What a shame that his visa has just been refused, and he will have to be deported back to whatever awful country he came from...]]
[[image:burntman.jpg|right|thumb|300px|This man may be suffering from [[burns]].]]
===Emergency Medicine===
Emergency Medicine is a very wide field, that involves dealing with a whole host of complaints.  
Learning about [[chest pain]] is important. So is [[ECG]]


If you watch Casualty, you will have a very realistic view of how emergency medicine is conducted in real hospitals. Apart from the fact that all the nurses and doctors do not actually have affairs with each other, hospital administrators and patients on a daily basis, in between their casual sex in elevators, near constant drug abuse, and the fact that they even have the energy after 12 hour shifts to go out drinking all night and arrive back at work still drunk the next day. And no one is as nice as Charlie in real life.
There are four main categories of patients you will see:
*[[Medical emergencies]]
*General medical or surgical problems
*[[Minor injuries]]
*People with nothing wrong with them


===Intensive Care===
===Medical Emergencies===
Also known as [[critical care]], this area is for people that are severely ill - on the brink of the cliff that separates life and death. They get much higher levels of staffing; at least one-on-one care, often more. It is important to understand the [[physiology]] of the body, especially [[cardiac]], [[respiratory]], [[liver]] and [[renal]]. Your job is to keep people alive, and hope their bodies can do the rest.
[[image:emergency.gif|left]]'''There is a whole page on [[medical emergencies]] that you should definitely know about.'''


Also important is:
Common ones in A&E are [[heart attacks]], [[COPD exacerbation]], [[asthma attack]], [[DKA]] and [[road traffic accidents]].
*[[Shock]]
 
*[[Pain management]]
They are generally stablised in the Resus area in an emergency department, where they will get, in fairly quick succession, a [[CXR]], [[ECG]], full barrage of [[blood tests]], [[ABG]] and, most likely, [[oxygen]].
*[[Coma]]
 
*[[Brain death]]
===Physical Injury===
It's quite important to learn about physical injury, as it is a common appearance in A & E.
 
It is split into four areas: [[fractures]], [[lacerations]], [[burns]] and [[major injuries]].
 
===Casualty===
If you watch Casualty, you will have a very realistic view of how emergency medicine is conducted in real hospitals. Realistic, apart from the fact that all the nurses and doctors do not ''actually'' have affairs with each other, with hospital administrators and with patients on a daily basis, managing to fit that in between their casual sex in elevators, near constant drug abuse, and the fact that they even have the energy after 12 hour shifts to go out drinking all night and arrive back at work still drunk the next day.
 
And no one is as nice as Charlie in real life.

Latest revision as of 08:48, 12 April 2012

This man may be suffering from burns.

Emergency Medicine is a very wide field, that involves dealing with a whole host of complaints.

There are four main categories of patients you will see:

Medical Emergencies

Emergency.gif

There is a whole page on medical emergencies that you should definitely know about.

Common ones in A&E are heart attacks, COPD exacerbation, asthma attack, DKA and road traffic accidents.

They are generally stablised in the Resus area in an emergency department, where they will get, in fairly quick succession, a CXR, ECG, full barrage of blood tests, ABG and, most likely, oxygen.

Physical Injury

It's quite important to learn about physical injury, as it is a common appearance in A & E.

It is split into four areas: fractures, lacerations, burns and major injuries.

Casualty

If you watch Casualty, you will have a very realistic view of how emergency medicine is conducted in real hospitals. Realistic, apart from the fact that all the nurses and doctors do not actually have affairs with each other, with hospital administrators and with patients on a daily basis, managing to fit that in between their casual sex in elevators, near constant drug abuse, and the fact that they even have the energy after 12 hour shifts to go out drinking all night and arrive back at work still drunk the next day.

And no one is as nice as Charlie in real life.

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