EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Emergency management is the generic name of an interdisciplinary field dealing with the strategic organizational management processes used to protect critical assets of an organization from hazard risks that can cause events like disasters or catastrophes and to ensure the continuance of the organization within their planned lifetime.

Emergency medical services

Emergency Medical Services (abbreviated to the initialism EMS in some countries) are a type of emergency service dedicated to providing out-of-hospital acute medical care, transport to definitive care, and other medical transport to patients with illnesses and injuries which prevent the patient from transporting themselves.
Emergency medical services may also be locally known as a first aid squad, emergency squad, rescue squad, ambulance, squad ambulance service, ambulance corps, or life squad.

Principles of Emergency Management

Emergency management must be:

•  Comprehensive – emergency managers consider and take into account all hazards, all phases, all stakeholders and all impacts relevant to disasters.
•  Progressive – emergency managers anticipate future disasters and take preventive and preparatory measures to build disaster-resistant and disaster-resilient communities.
•  Risk-driven – emergency managers use sound risk management principles (hazard identification, risk analysis, and impact analysis) in assigning priorities and resources.
•  Integrated – emergency managers ensure unity of effort among all levels of government and all elements of a community.
•  Collaborative – emergency managers create and sustain broad and sincere relationships among individuals and organizations to encourage trust, advocate a team atmosphere, build consensus, and facilitate communication.
•  Coordinated – emergency managers synchronize the activities of all relevant stakeholders to achieve a common purpose.
•  Flexible – emergency managers use creative and innovative approaches in solving disaster challenges.
•  Professional – emergency managers value a science and knowledge-based approach; based on education, training, experience, ethical practice, public stewardship and continuous improvement.

International organizations

• International Association of Emergency Managers
• Red Cross/Red Crescent
• United Nations
• World Bank
• European Union
• International Recovery Platform
• Sparkrelief.org

Emergency Management is done in two ways:

• First aid (mostly by general public)
• in a professional way (by physicians, and nurses in a ward

Most Common Emergencies

Conditions that often require first aid

• Altitude sickness, which can begin in susceptible people at altitudes as low as 5,000 feet, can cause potentially fatal swelling of the brain or lungs.[12]
• Anaphylaxis, a life-threatening condition in which the airway can become constricted and the patient may go into shock. The reaction can be caused by a systemic allergic reaction toallergens such as insect bites or peanuts. Anaphylaxis is initially treated with injection of epinephrine.
• Battlefield first aid—This protocol refers to treating shrapnel, gunshot wounds, burns, bone fractures, etc. as seen either in the ‘traditional’ battlefield setting or in an area subject to damage by large scale weaponry, such as a bomb blast.
• Bone fracture, a break in a bone initially treated by stabilizing the fracture with a splint.
• Burns, which can result in damage to tissues and loss of body fluids through the burn site.
• Cardiac Arrest, which will lead to death unless CPR preferably combined with an AED is started within minutes. There is often no time to wait for the emergency services to arrive as 92 percent of people suffering a sudden cardiac arrest die before reaching hospital according to the American Heart Association.
• Choking, blockage of the airway which can quickly result in death due to lack of oxygen if the patient’s trachea is not cleared, for example by the Heimlich Maneuver.
• Childbirth.
• Cramps in muscles due to lactic acid build up caused either by inadequate oxygenation of muscle or lack of water or salt.
• Diving disorders, drowning or asphyxiation.[13]
• Gender-specific conditions, such as dysmenorrhea and testicular torsion.
• Heart attack, or inadequate blood flow to the blood vessels supplying the heart muscle.
• Heat stroke, also known as sunstroke or hyperthermia, which tends to occur during heavy exercise in high humidity, or with inadequate water, though it may occur spontaneously in some chronically ill persons. Sunstroke, especially when the victim has been unconscious, often causes major damage to body systems such as brain, kidney, liver, gastric tract. Unconsciousness for more than two hours usually leads to permanent disability. Emergency treatment involves rapid cooling of the patient.
• Hair tourniquet a condition where a hair or other thread becomes tied around a toe or finger tightly enough to cut off blood flow.
• Heat syncope, another stage in the same process as heat stroke, occurs under similar conditions as heat stroke and is not distinguished from the latter by some authorities.
• Heavy bleeding, treated by applying pressure (manually and later with a pressure bandage) to the wound site and elevating the limb if possible.
• Hyperglycemia (diabetic coma) and Hypoglycemia (insulin shock).
• Hypothermia, or Exposure, occurs when a person’s core body temperature falls below 33.7°C (92.6°F). First aid for a mildly hypothermic patient includes rewarming, but rewarming a severely hypothermic person could result in a fatal arrhythmia, an irregular heart rhythm.
• Insect and animal bites and stings.
• Joint dislocation.
• Poisoning, which can occur by injection, inhalation, absorption, or ingestion.
• Seizures, or a malfunction in the electrical activity in the brain. Three types of seizures include a grand mal (which usually features convulsions as well as temporary respiratory abnormalities, change in skin complexion, etc.) and petit mal (which usually features twitching, rapid blinking, and/or fidgeting as well as altered consciousness and temporary respiratory abnormalities).
• Muscle strains and Sprains, a temporary dislocation of a joint that immediately reduces automatically but may result in ligament damage.
• Stroke, a temporary loss of blood supply to the brain.
• Toothache, which can result in severe pain and loss of the tooth but is rarely life threatening, unless over time the infection spreads into the bone of the jaw and starts osteomyelitis.
• Wounds and bleeding, including lacerations, incisions and abrasions, GI bleeding, avulsions and Sucking chest wounds, treated with an occlusive dress singto let air out but not in.

Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Pediatric Emergency Medicine (PEM) provides acute care and stabilizes children prior to hospital admission. As part of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care, PEM manages children with medical and surgical emergencies and general pediatric diseases.

Patient Conditions

General pediatric conditions, including:

• pneumonia
• asthma
• near-SIDS
• failure to thrive
• malnutrition
• smoke inhalation
• near drowning
• minor trauma
• intoxication/poisonings
• AIDS
• abuse

Medical conditions, including:

• pulmonary
• immunology
• nephrology
• cardiology
• infectious diseases
• adolescent medicine
• neurology
• gastroenterology
• endocrinology
• metabolic diseases

Surgical conditions, including:

• pediatric surgery
• orthopaedics
• neurosurgery
• ENT
• ophthalmology
• plastic surgery
• thoracic surgery
• oral surgery
• OB/GYN