Outline of emergency medicine
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to emergency medicine:
Emergency medicine - medical specialty involving care for undifferentiated, unscheduled patients with acute illnesses or injuries that require immediate medical attention. While not usually providing long-term or continuing care, emergency physicians undertake acute investigations and interventions to resuscitate and stabilize patients. Emergency physicians generally practice in hospital emergency departments, pre-hospital settings via emergency medical services, and intensive care units.
Presentations
- Abdominal pain
- Altered level of consciousness
- Back pain
- Chest pain
- Coma
- Confusion
- Constipation
- Cyanosis
- Diarrhea
- Dizziness
- Dyspnea
- Fever
- Gastrointestinal bleeding
- Headache
- Hemoptysis
- Jaundice
- Nausea and vomiting
- Pelvic pain
- Seizure
- Sore throat
- Syncope
- Testicular pain
- Vaginal bleeding
- Vertigo
- Weakness
Types of emergencies
Listed below are conditions that constitute a possible medical emergency and may require immediate first aid, emergency room care, surgery, or care by a physician or nurse. Not all medical emergencies are life-threatening; some conditions require medical attention in order to prevent significant and long-lasting effects on physical or mental health.Blood
Children
Endocrine
- Acid base disorder
- Diabetes mellitus
- Rhabdomyolysis
- Thyroid storm
- Adrenal crisis
- Addisonian crisis
- Dehydration
- Diabetic coma
- * Diabetic ketoacidosis
- * Hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state
- * Hypoglycemic coma
- Electrolyte disturbance
- Hepatic encephalopathy
- Hypercalcemic crisis
- Lactic acidosis
- Malnutrition and starvation
- Pheochromocytoma
Environmental
- Accidental hypothermia
- Drowning
- Electric shock and lightning injuries
- Frostbite
- Heat illness
- Radiation injuries
- Scuba diving hazards and dysbarism
Eyes
- Acute angle-closure glaucoma
- Giant-cell arteritis
- Orbital perforation or penetration
- Retinal detachment
Gastrointestinal
- Appendicitis
- Biliary colic
- Cholecystitis
- Gastroenteritis
- Small bowel obstruction
- Crohn's disease
- Peritonitis
Genitourinary
- Acute prostatitis
- Paraphimosis
- Priapism
- Testicular torsion
- Urinary retention
- Kidney failure
- Sexually transmitted infection
Heart and blood vessels
- Acute coronary syndrome
- Air embolism
- Aortic aneurysm
- * Abdominal aortic aneurysm
- Aortic dissection
- Bleeding
- * Internal bleeding
- Hypovolemia
- Cardiac arrest
- Cardiac arrhythmia
- * Ventricular fibrillation
- * Supraventricular tachycardia
- Cardiac tamponade
- Deep vein thrombosis
- Heart block
- Heart failure
- Hypertensive emergency
- Infectious endocarditis
- Myocardial infarction
- Myocarditis
- Pericarditis
- Peripheral vascular disease
- Pulmonary embolism
- Valvular heart disease
Infectious disease
- HIV/AIDS
- Cellulitis
- Necrotizing fasciitis
- Osteomyelitis
- Rabies
- Sepsis
- Overwhelming post-splenectomy infection
- Septic arthritis
- Tuberculosis
- Meningitis
- Cholera
- Ear infection
- Gas gangrene
- Lyme disease
- Malaria
- Neutropenic sepsis
- Salmonella poisoning
Inflammatory
Injury
- Abdominal trauma
- Nose bleed
- Appendicitis
- Ballistic trauma
- Bite
- Blunt trauma
- Bone fracture
- Burns
- Chest trauma
- Child abuse
- Domestic abuse
- Facial trauma
- Flail chest
- Foreign body
- Fulminant colitis
- Head injury
- Hyperthermia
- * Malignant hyperthermia
- Hypothermia or frostbite
- Intestinal obstruction
- Pancreatitis
- Peritonitis
- Polytrauma
- Ruptured spleen
- Sexual assault
- Spinal disc herniation
- Spinal injury
- Sensorineural hearing loss
- Traumatic brain injury
- Wound
Lungs and airway
- Agonal breathing
- Asphyxia
- * Angioedema
- * Choking
- * Drowning
- * Smoke inhalation
- Asthma
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Epiglottitis
- Pleurisy
- Pneumonia
- Pneumothorax
- Pulmonary embolism
- Respiratory failure
- Upper respiratory infection
Nephrology
Nervous system
- Spinal-cord injury
- Cerebrovascular accident
- Delirium
- Neuroleptic malignant syndrome
- Seizures
- *Status epilepticus
- *Epilepsy
- Serotonin syndrome
- Status migrainosus
- Subarachnoid hemorrhage
- Subdural hematoma
Pregnancy
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Eclampsia
- Pre-eclampsia
- * HELLP syndrome
- Fetal distress
- Obstetrical bleeding
- Placental abruption
- Prolapsed cord
- Puerperal sepsis
- Shoulder dystocia
- Uterine rupture
Psychiatric
- Anxiety
- Attempted suicide
- Excited delirium
- Homicidal ideation
- Mood disorder
- Psychomotor agitation
- Psychotic episode
- Somatoform disorder
- Suicidal ideation
- Thought disorder
Skin
- Acute urticaria
- Angioedema
- Erythema multiforme major
- Kasabach–Merritt syndrome
- Toxic epidermal necrolysis
Toxicological
- Overdose
- * Acetaminophen overdose
- * Aspirin overdose and other NSAIDs
- Poisoning
- Beta blocker toxicity
- Calcium channel blocker toxicity
- Ethylene glycol poisoning
- Food poisoning
Gynecologic
Emergency medical care
Critical care
- Acute Care of at-Risk Newborns
- Airway management
- Care of the Critically Ill Surgical Patient
- Mechanical ventilation
- Shock
- Resuscitation
- * Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
- * Neonatal Resuscitation Program
- * Advanced Cardiac Life Support
- * Pediatric Advanced Life Support
- * Advanced Trauma Life Support
Life support
- Basic life support
- Advanced life support
- * Advanced cardiac life support
- * Advanced trauma life support
- ** ABC (medicine)
- ** Pneumothorax
- ** Pericardial tamponade
- * Pediatric Advanced Life Support
Environmental medicine
Environmental medicineBranches of emergency medicine
- Emergency medical services
- Emergency nursing
- Emergency psychiatry
- International emergency medicine
- Pediatric emergency medicine
- Pre-hospital emergency medicine
- Social emergency medicine
Contributory fields
Emergency medicine is multidisciplinary - due to the diversity of medical emergencies encountered, emergency medicine relies heavily upon the knowledge and procedures of many medical specialties, including:- Critical care medicine
- Disaster medicine
- Hospice care
- Hyperbaric medicine
- Pain management
- Palliative care
- Sports medicine
- Ultrasound
- Wilderness medicine
Emergency medical system
Emergency medical services
Emergency medical services- Ambulance
- Emergency medical dispatch
- * Medical Priority Dispatch System
- * Computer-aided call handling
- * Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System
- Emergency medical technician
- Paramedic
Emergency medical facilities
Emergency medical professionals
Tools and equipment
Emergency medical equipment- Bag valve mask
- Chest tube
- Defibrillation
- Electrocardiogram
- Intraosseous infusion
- Intravenous therapy
- Tracheal intubation
- Laryngeal tube
- Combitube
- Nasopharyngeal airway
- Oropharyngeal airway
- Pocket mask
Drugs
History
Journals
Critical Care MedicineIntensive Care MedicineMilitary MedicineShockTraumaAcademic Emergency MedicineAmerican Journal of Emergency MedicineAnnals of Emergency MedicineAnnals of Intensive CareCritical Care ClinicsEmergency Medicine AustralasiaEmergency Medicine JournalIndian Journal of Critical Care MedicineInjury PreventionJournal of Critical CareJournal of Emergencies, Trauma, and ShockJournal of Emergency NursingJournal of Injury and Violence ResearchJournal of Intensive Care MedicinePediatric Critical Care MedicinePrehospital Emergency CareOrganizations
- American Board of Emergency Medicine
- American College of Emergency Physicians
- American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine
- Asian Society for Emergency Medicine
- Australasian College for Emergency Medicine
- British Association for Immediate Care
- Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians
- Emergency Nurses Association
- European Resuscitation Council
- European Society of Emergency Medicine
- International Federation for Emergency Medicine
- International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation
- Resuscitation Council
- Royal College of Emergency Medicine