The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to emergency medicine:
Emergency medicine – medical specialty involving care for undifferentiated, unscheduled patients with acute illnesses or injuries that require immediate medical attention. While not usually providing long-term or continuing care, emergency physicians undertake acute investigations and interventions to resuscitate and stabilize patients. Emergency physicians generally practice in hospital emergency departments, pre-hospital settings via emergency medical services, and intensive care units.
Medical emergency (list)
Abdominal pain
Altered level of consciousness
Back pain
Chest pain
Coma
Confusion
Constipation
Cyanosis
Diarrhea
Dizziness
Dyspnea
Fever
Gastrointestinal bleeding
Headache
Hemoptysis
Jaundice
Nausea and vomiting
Pelvic pain
Seizure
Sore throat
Syncope
Testicular pain
Vaginal bleeding
Vertigo
Weakness
Listed below are conditions that constitute a possible medical emergency and may require immediate first aid, emergency room care, surgery, or care by a physician or nurse. Not all medical emergencies are life-threatening; some conditions require medical attention in order to prevent significant and long-lasting effects on physical or mental health.
Cardiac and circulatory
Acute coronary syndrome
Air embolism (arterial)
Aortic aneurysm (ruptured)
Abdominal aortic aneurysm
Aortic dissection
Bleeding
Hemorrhage
Hypovolemia
Internal bleeding
Cardiac arrest
Cardiac arrhythmia
Ventricular fibrillation
Supraventricular tachycardia
Cardiac tamponade
Deep vein thrombosis
Heart block
Heart failure
Hypertensive emergency
Infectious endocarditis
Myocardial infarction (heart attack)
Myocarditis
Pericarditis
Peripheral vascular disease
Pulmonary embolism
Valvular heart disease
Acute urticaria
Angioedema
Erythema multiforme major
Kasabach–Merritt syndrome
Acid base disorder
Diabetes mellitus
Rhabdomyolysis
Thyroid storm
Adrenal crisis
Accidental hypothermia
Drowning
Electrical and lightning injuries
Frostbite
Heat illness
Radiation injuries
Scuba diving hazards and dysbarism
Appendicitis
Biliary colic
Cholecystitis
Gastroenteritis
Small bowel obstruction
Renal failure
Sexually transmitted diseases
Bacterial meningitis
Cholera
Ear infection (can occur with sudden sensorineural hearing loss)
Gas gangrene
Lyme disease infection
Malaria infection
Necrotizing fasciitis
Neutropenic sepsis
Rabies infection
Salmonella poisoning
Sepsis
Allergy
Anaphylaxis
Arthritis
Bursitis
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Vasculitis
Anemia
Polycythemia
AIDS
Cellulitis
HIV
Necrotizing fasciitis
Osteomyelitis
Rabies
Sepsis
Septic arthritis
Tuberculosis
Injury (trauma) and illness
Abdominal trauma
Acute epistaxis
Appendicitis (leading to peritonitis)
Ballistic trauma (gunshot wound)
Bite
Bone fracture
Burn
Crohn's disease, severe (possible obstruction, perforation)
Chest trauma
Child abuse
Domestic abuse
Facial trauma
Flail chest
Foreign body
Fulminant colitis
Head injury
Hyperthermia (heat stroke or sunstroke)
Malignant hyperthermia
Hypothermia or frostbite
Intestinal obstruction
Pancreatitis
Peritonitis
Poisoning
Food poisoning
Venomous animal bite
Pharmacological overdose
Botanical
Polytrauma
Ruptured spleen
Septic arthritis
Septicaemia blood infection
Severe burn (including scalding and chemical burns)
Sexual assault
Spinal disc herniation
Spinal injury
Spreading wound infection
Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (which may become permanent unless treated promptly)
Suspected spinal injury
Traumatic brain injury
Wound
Acute renal failure
Addisonian crisis (seen in those with Addison's disease)
Dehydration, advanced
Diabetic coma
Diabetic ketoacidosis
Hypoglycemic coma
Electrolyte disturbance, severe (along with dehydration, possible with severe diarrhea or vomiting, chronic laxative abuse, and severe burns)
Hepatic encephalopathy
Hypercalcemic crisis
Lactic acidosis
Malnutrition and starvation (as in extreme anorexia and bulimia)
Pheochromocytoma crisis
Thyroid storm
Neurological and neurosurgical
Acute spinal cord compression
Cerebrovascular accident (stroke)
Convulsion or seizure, no history or unusual
Delirium
Meningitis
Neuroleptic malignant syndrome
Seizures
Serotonin syndrome
Status epilepticus
Status migrainosus
Stroke
Subarachnoid hemorrhage
Subdural hematoma, acute
Ectopic pregnancy
Eclampsia
Pre-eclampsia
HELLP syndrome
Fetal distress
Obstetrical hemorrhage
Placental abruption
Prolapsed cord
Puerperal sepsis
Shoulder dystocia
Uterine rupture
pulmonary hypertension
Acute angle-closure glaucoma
Giant-cell arteritis
Orbital perforation or penetration
Retinal detachment
Croup
Limp
Anxiety, acute
Attempted suicide, non-fatal
Excited delirium
Homicidal ideation
Mood disorder
Psychomotor agitation
Psychotic episode
Somatoform disorder
Suicidal ideation
Thought disorder
Agonal breathing
Asphyxia
Angioedema
Choking
Drowning
Smoke inhalation
Asthma, acute
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Epiglottitis or severe croup
Pleurisy
Pneumonia
Pneumothorax
Pulmonary embolism
Respiratory failure
Upper respiratory infection
Shock
Anaphylaxis
Cardiogenic shock
Hypovolemic shock (due to hemorrhage)
Neurogenic shock
Obstructive shock (e.g., massive pulmonary embolism or cardiac tamponade)
Septic shock
Overdose
Acetaminophen overdose
Aspirin overdose and other NSAIDs
Poisoning
Urological, andrological, and gynecologic
Acute prostatitis
Gynecologic hemorrhage
Ovarian torsion
Paraphimosis
Priapism
Sexual assault (rape)
Testicular torsion
Urinary retention
First aid
Golden hour
Triage
Acute Care of at-Risk Newborns (ACoRN)
Airway management
Care of the Critically Ill Surgical Patient (CCrISP)
Mechanical ventilation
Shock
Resuscitation
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP)
Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
Advanced Trauma Life Support(ATLS)
Basic life support (BLS)
Advanced life support
Advanced cardiac life support (ACLS)
Advanced trauma life support (ATLS)
ABC (medicine)
Pneumothorax
Pericardial tamponade
Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
Environmental medicine
High altitude medicine
Travel medicine
Mass-gathering medicine
Toxicology
Anticholinergics
Antidepressants
Cardiovascular drugs
Beta blocker toxicity
Calcium channel blocker toxicity)
Caustics
Sympathomimetics and cocaine
Toxic alcohols
Methanol toxicity
Ethylene glycol poisoning
Hallucinogens
Heavy metals
Hydrocarbons
Inhaled toxins
Lithium
Antipsychotics
Opioids
Pesticides
Plants, mushrooms, herbal medications
Sedative hypnotics
Emergency medical services
Emergency nursing
Emergency psychiatry
International emergency medicine
Pediatric emergency medicine
Pre-hospital emergency medicine
Emergency medicine is multidiciplinary – due to the diversity of medical emergencies encountered, emergency medicine relies heavily upon the knowledge and procedures of many medical specialties, including:
Critical care medicine
Disaster medicine
Hospice care
Hyperbaric medicine
Pain management
Palliative care
Sports medicine
Ultrasound
Wilderness medicine
Emergency telephone number
Emergency medical services
Ambulance
Emergency medical dispatch
Medical Priority Dispatch System (US)
Computer-aided call handling (US)
Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System (UK)
Emergency medical technician
Paramedic
Emergency department
Poison control center
Trauma center
Emergency physician
Emergency nurse
Emergency medical technician
Paramedic
Emergency medical equipment
Bag valve mask (BVM)
Chest tube
Defibrillation (AED
ICD)
Electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG)
Intraosseous infusion (IO)
Intravenous therapy (IV)
Tracheal intubation
Laryngeal tube
Combitube
Nasopharyngeal airway (NPA)
Oropharyngeal airway (OPA)
Pocket mask
Atropine
Amiodarone
Epinephrine / Adrenaline
Magnesium sulfate
Sodium bicarbonate
Naloxone
History of the ambulance
History of emergency medical services
Critical Care Medicine
Intensive Care Medicine
Military Medicine
Shock
Trauma
Academic Emergency Medicine
American Journal of Emergency Medicine
Annals of Emergency Medicine
Annals of Intensive Care
Critical Care Clinics
Emergency Medicine Australasia
Emergency Medicine Journal
Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine
Injury Prevention
Journal of Critical Care
Journal of Emergencies, Trauma, and Shock
Journal of Emergency Nursing
Journal of Injury and Violence Research
Journal of Intensive Care Medicine
Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
Prehospital Emergency Care
The Journal of Emergency Medicine
American Board of Emergency Medicine
American College of Emergency Physicians
American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Medicine
Asian Society for Emergency Medicine
Australasian College for Emergency Medicine
British Association for Immediate Care
Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians
Emergency Nurses Association
European Resuscitation Council
European Society of Emergency Medicine
International Federation for Emergency Medicine
International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation
Resuscitation Council
Royal College of Emergency Medicine
Dominique Jean Larrey
Peter Safar – Austrian physician of Czech descent, credited with pioneering cardiopulmonary resuscitation
