Emergency medicine

Abstract

This chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Specialties explores the specialty of emergency medicine. It describes the work of a doctor in the emergency department (ED), including an overview of emergency medicine and ED teams, triage, crowding, exit block, clinical decision-making, patient expectations, and patient assessment. It investigates common procedures in depth, including advanced life support and management of pain and sedation. It discusses commonly encountered problems such as shock, the unwell child, and major trauma from brain injury to thoracic, abdominal, and pelvic trauma, as well as major burns, environmental emergencies, emergency toxicology, sepsis, loss of consciousness, stroke, acute severe headache, chest pain, acute shortness of breath, abdominal pain, atraumatic back pain, extremity problems, common limb injuries, bites and stings, foreign body ingestion, and wound care.