# Outline of emergency medicine

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.

## Presentations

* 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

## Types of emergencies

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.

### Blood

* Anemia
* Polycythemia
* Acute promyelocytic leukemia
* Disseminated intravascular coagulation

### Children

* Croup
* Limp

### Endocrine

* Acid base disorder
* Diabetes mellitus
* Rhabdomyolysis
* Thyroid storm
* Adrenal crisis
* Addisonian crisis
* Dehydration
* Diabetic coma
** Diabetic ketoacidosis
** Hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state
** Hypoglycemic coma
* Electrolyte disturbance
* Hepatic encephalopathy
* Hypercalcemic crisis
* Lactic acidosis
* Malnutrition and starvation
* Pheochromocytoma

### Environmental

* Accidental hypothermia
* Drowning
* Electric shock and lightning injuries
* Frostbite
* Heat illness
* Radiation injuries
* Scuba diving hazards and dysbarism

### Eyes

* Acute angle-closure glaucoma
* Giant-cell arteritis
* Orbital perforation or penetration
* Retinal detachment

### Gastrointestinal

* Appendicitis
* Biliary colic
* Cholecystitis
* Gastroenteritis
* Small bowel obstruction
* Crohn's disease
* Peritonitis

### Genitourinary

* Acute prostatitis
* Paraphimosis
* Priapism
* Testicular torsion
* Urinary retention
* Kidney failure
* Sexually transmitted infection

### Heart and blood vessels

* Acute coronary syndrome
* Air embolism (arterial)
* Aortic aneurysm (ruptured)
** Abdominal aortic aneurysm
* Aortic dissection
* Bleeding
** Internal bleeding
* Hypovolemia
* 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

### Infectious disease

* HIV/AIDS
* Cellulitis
* Necrotizing fasciitis
* Osteomyelitis
* Rabies
* Sepsis
* Overwhelming post-splenectomy infection
* Septic arthritis
* Tuberculosis
* Meningitis
* Cholera
* Ear infection
* Gas gangrene
* Lyme disease
* Malaria
* Neutropenic sepsis
* Salmonella poisoning

### Inflammatory

* Allergy
* Anaphylaxis
* Arthritis
* Bursitis
* Systemic lupus erythematosus
* Vasculitis

### Injury

* Abdominal trauma
* Nose bleed
* Appendicitis
* Ballistic trauma (gunshot wound)
* Bite
* Blunt trauma
* Bone fracture
* Burns
* Chest trauma
* Child abuse
* Domestic abuse
* Facial trauma
* Flail chest
* Foreign body
* Fulminant colitis
* Head injury
* Hyperthermia (including heat stroke or sunstroke)
** Malignant hyperthermia
* Hypothermia or frostbite
* Intestinal obstruction
* Pancreatitis
* Peritonitis
* Polytrauma
* Ruptured spleen
* Sexual assault
* Spinal disc herniation
* Spinal injury
* Sensorineural hearing loss
* Traumatic brain injury
* Wound

### Lungs and airway

* Agonal breathing
* Asphyxia
** Angioedema
** Choking
** Drowning
** Smoke inhalation
* Asthma
* Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
* Epiglottitis
* Pleurisy
* Pneumonia
* Pneumothorax
* Pulmonary embolism
* Respiratory failure
* Upper respiratory infection

### Nephrology

* Acute kidney injury

### Nervous system

* Spinal-cord injury
* Cerebrovascular accident (stroke)
* Delirium
* Neuroleptic malignant syndrome
* Seizures
** Status epilepticus
** Epilepsy
* Serotonin syndrome
* Status migrainosus
* Subarachnoid hemorrhage
* Subdural hematoma

### Pregnancy

* Ectopic pregnancy
* Eclampsia
* Pre-eclampsia
** HELLP syndrome
* Fetal distress
* Obstetrical bleeding
* Placental abruption
* Prolapsed cord
* Puerperal sepsis
* Shoulder dystocia
* Uterine rupture

### Psychiatric

* Anxiety
* Attempted suicide
* Excited delirium
* Homicidal ideation
* Mood disorder
* Psychomotor agitation
* Psychotic episode
* Somatoform disorder
* Suicidal ideation
* Thought disorder

### Skin

* Acute urticaria
* Angioedema
* Erythema multiforme major
* Kasabach–Merritt syndrome
* Toxic epidermal necrolysis

### Toxicological

* Overdose
** Acetaminophen overdose
** Aspirin overdose and other NSAIDs
* Poisoning
* Beta blocker toxicity
* Calcium channel blocker toxicity
* Ethylene glycol poisoning
* Food poisoning

### Gynecologic

* Gynecologic hemorrhage
* Ovarian torsion
* Sexual assault (rape)

## Emergency medical care

* First aid
* Golden hour
* Triage

### Critical care

* 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)

#### Life support

* 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

Environmental medicine
* High altitude medicine
* Travel medicine
* Mass-gathering medicine

## Branches of emergency medicine

* Emergency medical services
* Emergency nursing
* Emergency psychiatry
* International emergency medicine
* Pediatric emergency medicine
* Pre-hospital emergency medicine
* Social emergency medicine

### Contributory fields

Emergency medicine is multidisciplinary – 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 medical system

* Emergency telephone number

### Emergency medical services

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 medical facilities

* Emergency department
* Poison control center
* Trauma center

### Emergency medical professionals

* Emergency physician
* Emergency nurse
* Emergency medical technician
* Paramedic

## Tools and equipment

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

### Drugs

* Atropine
* Amiodarone
* Dopamine
* Epinephrine / Adrenaline
* Magnesium sulfate
* Hydralazine

## History

* History of the ambulance
* History of emergency medical services

## Journals

* 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

## Organizations

* 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