Definition of Urgency and Medical Emergency

The disorders of health are highly variable in relation to their severity. Sometimes they can be diseases or conditions that, although accompanied by bothersome symptoms, do not represent a risk for life. In other cases there may be scenarios that do carry a high risk of dying, or of developing injuries that lead to serious sequelae, and therefore require medical attention immediate.

The situations in which medical attention must be provided as soon as possible can be of two types, the urgencies and medical emergencies.

Medical emergency

Understand a situation in which deserves one evaluation and medical treatment in a institution health, specifically in a Unit or department. These conditions must be resolved within a few hours, most authors establish a maximum time of 6 hours from the onset of symptoms and their treatment or stabilization.

Among the main health conditions that involve an emergency are:

- Hypertensive crisis
- High fever

- Continual vomiting and diarrhea
- dehydration
- Allergic reactions
- Decompensation of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart failure
- severe infections
- Trauma
- Burns
- Wounds
- Intense pain

Emergencies

This segment also understands a situation that warrants prompt medical evaluation, but care should be immediate as injury or health condition is life-threatening.

In general, people who have a emergency They do not reach the care centers by their means but are transferred by someone who witnessed the onset of symptoms, which usually occurs abruptly or suddenly.

Conditions that constitute a medical emergency include:

- Severe bleeding
- Polytrauma
- Deep wounds
- Severe shortness of breath
- Heart attacks
- Pulmonary embolisms
- Ongoing seizures (status epileptic)
- Loss of conscience
- Hypertensive crisis with target organ involvement (kidney failure, neurological deficit or heart involvement)
- Stroke
- Extensive burns
- Poisonings - poisonings
- Severe allergic reactions (accompanied by difficulty breathing)
- Perforation of abdominal viscera with peritonitis (related to gallstones, appendicitis, diverticulitis or penetration of a gastric or duodenal ulcer)

The clinical guidelines in this regard establish that as more time elapses between the onset of these conditions and medical care, your mortality. In general terms, no more than one hour should elapse between the onset of a medical emergency and access to the health service.

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