Recognizing and Dealing with a Medical Emergency

There are times in our life when we encounter medical emergencies. The emergency could be about ourselves or other people. Failing to act promptly and properly can be the difference between someone living or dying. This underscores the importance of knowing how to deal with a medical emergency.

How to recognize a medical emergency

For the untrained, some things may not be perceived as signs of a medical emergency. By knowing what these signs are, someone can immediately act on it by either providing the treatment himself (if he’s trained to do it) or take the patient to the nearest medical help.

Here are some signs that someone needs emergency medical treatment:

• Non-stop bleeding
• Chest pain
• Difficulty in breathing
• Choking
• Severe or persistent vomiting
• Sudden dizziness or weakness
• Coughing up or vomiting blood
• Trauma caused by accidents
• Sudden, severe pain in any part of the body

Knowledge and preparation

Dealing with a medical emergency entails knowing its signs and being prepared and properly equipped. It’s not enough that you’re trained how to administer first aid. You also have to know the location of the nearest emergency department and the quickest route to get to it.

As a way of preparing, you should also keep emergency phone numbers by your house phone. Everyone in the house, including children, should be instructed when and how to call these numbers. The numbers should include the following:

• Police department
• Fire department
• Ambulance center
• Emergency medical services
• Poison control center
• Your doctor’s phone numbers
• Numbers of family members, relatives, friends, and even co-workers

Dealing with an emergency

The last thing you should do when there’s an emergency is to panic. You should remain calm and do what you’re trained to do. If it’s necessary, administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or rescue breathing. If there’s bleeding, be sure to put pressure on the area where the bleeding is.

If you’re not trained to deal with medical emergencies, call 911 or whatever emergency number you have in your country. If you’re in a crowd, ask if anyone knows how to administer first aid.

What about a dental emergency?

That may sound new to you, but yes, there are dental emergencies. These emergencies are usually emergency root canal treatment, relief from excruciating pain, or an extraction. A quick treatment improves the chances of saving injured or damaged teeth (which can lead to damaged nerves or blood vessels). Some can experience so much pain that it almost drives them to insanity. If this happens at night, you can’t wait for the next day to have the pain treated. It’s good to know that there are after-hours dentists that can provide emergency dental care no matter what time of the day or night it is. (Looking for after-hours dentists in Melbourne? You can have a dental practitioner to immediately deal with your dental emergency Melbourne at FreedomDental.)

By knowing how to handle a medical emergency, we can save a life — whether it’s our or somebody else’s. As it is with other things, we hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Looking for after-hours dentists in Melbourne? You can have an experienced dental practitioner deal with your dental emergency Melbourne at FreedomDental.