Forensic Nursing Chronicles

A medical emergency is an event that may lead to immediate death or severe injury. Examples of these include a heart attack, a gunshot wound to a vital organ, and breathlessness due to submersion in water. These types of emergencies are best handled in an emergency room and not in center such as glendale urgent care. Other examples of events include a poisonous spider bite, a fall where a person hits his/her head resulting in a loss of consciousness, and a child hit in the nose by a baseball resulting in bleeding that does not stop after 5 minutes. These second set of examples are not as severe as the first set. Yet both sets are medical emergencies. A third set of emergencies include the loss of consciousness due to a low blood sugar level in a diabetic person (even though cared for at urgent care glendale), stage fright in a girl leading to a panic attack lasting over 10 minutes, and vaginal bleeding in a 30-year-old female lasting over 7 days leading to weakness and dizziness. This third set can be considered less severe than the second set.

Another definition for a medical emergency is when the person or people close by feel that an event may lead to immediate death or severe injury. People witnessing the event of the diabetic person in the first paragraph may not know what is happening. Thus, to them this is a true medical emergency. Another group of people watching their father having a low blood sugar crisis may know what to do. The diabetic person’s healthcare provider such as urgent care glendale az may have instructed them. This is not a medical emergency to them.

Thus, a medical emergency should be determined in the context of the person having the crisis, of the people next to the person, and of the healthcare provider’s instructions.