What To Do in a Medical Emergency MEDICAL EMERGENCIES WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM AMERICA’S EMEGENCY PHYSICIANS www.EmergencyCareForYou.org What To Do in a Medical Emergency At what point does a fever or stomach ache become a med- ical emergency? If you slice your finger with a knife, or you are having the worst headache you’ve ever had, should you seek emergency care? How do you know? The following information from the nation's emergency physicians will help you identify the signs and symptoms of emergency conditions. However, emergency physicians will tell you — if you think you are having a medical emer- gency, seek emergency care right away. Better safe, than sorry. Too many people, such as men with chest pain, wait too long to seek care. The advice in this publication is about how to handle com- mon emergency medical conditions. It does not contain all the signs or symptoms of medical emergencies, and the advice is not intended to be a substitute for consulting with a medical professional. If you think you are experiencing a medical emergency, seek immediate medical attention. www.EmergencyCareForYou.org 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Abdominal Pain ..............................................................................................4 Asthma and Allergies.....................................................................................4 Anaphylaxis.....................................................................................................8 Adverse Drug Reactions ................................................................................9 Bites and Stings .............................................................................................9 Broken Bones...............................................................................................14 Burns ............................................................................................................15 Choking.........................................................................................................16 Colds and Flu ...............................................................................................18 Cuts and Abrasions .....................................................................................19 Diabetic Emergencies..................................................................................20 Drowning.......................................................................................................21 Earaches and Ear Infections.......................................................................22 Electrical Injury/Shock ................................................................................24 Eye Emergencies and Wounds ...................................................................24 Fainting.........................................................................................................25 Fever .............................................................................................................25 Food Poisoning.............................................................................................27 Foreign Bodies in Nose or Ears ..................................................................28 Headache .....................................................................................................28 Head Injury...................................................................................................29 Heart Attack .................................................................................................30 Heat-Related Illnesses.................................................................................31 Hypothermia/Frostbite ................................................................................32 Neck or Back Injury .....................................................................................32 Nosebleeds ..................................................................................................33 Poisoning......................................................................................................33 Puncture Wounds ........................................................................................34 Rashes..........................................................................................................35 Seizures........................................................................................................35 Shock............................................................................................................36 Sore Throat...................................................................................................37 Sprains and Strains .....................................................................................37 Stroke............................................................................................................38 Suicide..........................................................................................................38 Sunburn........................................................................................................40 Teeth (Dental Emergencies) ........................................................................41 Vomiting and Diarrhea.................................................................................41 Notes.............................................................................................................42 3 • Symptoms of acute pancreatitis usually include Abdominal Pain pain in the middle upper abdomen that may last for a few days. The pain may become severe Abdominal or belly pain can have many causes. It may be and constant, or it may be sudden and intense. due to food poisoning, an intestinal or gall bladder It may also begin as mild pain that gets worse obstruction, an infection or inflammation. It could also be when food is eaten. Other symptoms include appendicitis, a kidney stone or peptic ulcer disease. In nausea, a swollen and tender abdomen, fever women abdominal pain can result from an ectopic preg- and a rapid pulse. nancy, an ovarian cyst, pelvic inflammatory disease or other female organ disorders. In addition, some people with pneumonia, a bladder Asthma and Allergies infection or a heart attack experience abdominal pain. Although asthma and allergies are two separate condi- Acute abdominal pain can tions — asthma is a chronic disease of the bronchial air- also be caused by chronic tubes, whereas allergies involve an overreaction of the medical conditions, such body's disease-fighting immune system — the two condi- as pancreatitis; colitis, an ABDOMINAL / ASTHMA AND ALLERGIES PAIN tions can be intertwined and often overlap. inflammation of the large intestine (colon); or diverti- For example, because most people with asthma also culitis, an inflammation of have allergies, asthma attacks (sometimes referred to as small out-pouchings along “exacerbations”) can be triggered by exposure to aller- the colon wall. gens, such as pollen, mold or animal dander. This type of asthma is known as allergic asthma, and it is one of sev- For mild abdominal pain, eral types of asthma. call your doctor first. If the pain is sudden, severe or In addition, asthma and certain allergic conditions, such does not ease within 30 as hay fever and peanut allergy, share the potential to be minutes, seek emergency life threatening. Allergies can be life-threatening when medical care. they lead to anaphylaxis. Asthma can be fatal when a severe asthma attack does not respond to inhaled bron- Sudden abdominal pain is chodilators and leads to symptoms of respiratory failure. often an indicator of serious intra-abdominal disease, such as a perforated ulcer or a ruptured abdominal Finally, since many of the symptoms of asthma are the aneurysm, although it could also result from a benign dis- same as they are for allergies, physicians may use some ease, such as gallstones. of the same medications to treat both. Continuous, severe abdominal pain or abdominal Asthma pain accompanied by continuous vomiting may Asthma is a chronic lung disease that results in 1.8 mil- indicate a serious or life-threatening condition, lion emergency visits and about 4,000 deaths each year. such as one of the types described below. There are several types of asthma, and although the dis- ease can be controlled, there is not yet a cure, which • Symptoms of appendicitis may include severe means that asthma patients must manage their condi- pain (usually in the lower right abdomen, but may tion on a daily basis. Moreover, it is estimated that about start anywhere in the abdomen), loss of appetite, half of asthma sufferers do not have their condition under nausea, vomiting or fever. Treatment generally control, making it more likely that these patients will end requires urgent surgical removal of the appendix. up in an emergency department as a result of an asthma Long delays in treatment can cause serious com- attack. When poorly controlled, asthma is potentially life- plications resulting from perforation (rupture) of the appendix, which can lead to a life-threatening threatening. infection. The characteristics of asthma include inflammation • Symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy include severe (swelling and irritation) of the airways and bronchocon- abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. In an striction (tightening of the muscles surrounding the air- ectopic pregnancy, a fertilized egg has implanted ways). Often worse at night, these problems shrink the outside of the normal site in the “womb” or uterus, such as