Accident and Emergency Medicine is the specialty responsible for assessing the immediate needs of acutely ill and injured people. Urgent treatment is provided where necessary; if required, the patient’s admission to an appropriate hospital bed is organised. Every part of the UK has nominated key hospitals with the appropriately trained sta? and necessary facilities to deal with acutely ill or injured patients. It is well-recognised that prompt treatment in the ?rst hour or so after an accident or after the onset of an acute illness – the so-called ‘golden hour’ – can make the di?erence between the patient’s recovery and serious disability or death.
A&E Medicine is a relatively new specialty in the UK and there are still inadequate numbers of consultants and trainees, despite an inexorable rise in the number of patients attending A&E departments. With a similar rise in hospital admissions there is often no bed available immediately for casualties, resulting in backlogs of patients waiting for treatment. A major debate in the specialty is about the likely need to centralise services by downgrading or closing smaller units, in order to make the most e?cient use of sta?.
See www.baem.org.uk... accident and emergency medicine
Measures to avoid pregnancy following unprotected sexual intercourse. There are 2 main methods: hormonal and physical. In the first, oral contraceptives (the “morning after” pill) are taken in a high dose as soon as possible, but not longer than 72 hours, after unprotected intercourse, with a second dose taken 12 hours later. They may be given as a high-dose progesterone-only pill or as a high-dose combined (oestrogen and progesterone) pill. In the physical method, an IUD is inserted by a doctor within 5 days of unprotected intercourse.... contraception, emergency
accident and emergency medicine: an important specialty dealing with the immediate problems of the acutely ill and injured. See also ED.... accident and emergency medicine
(MET) a team, usually consisting of a group of physicians, anaesthetists, and senior nurses, that can be summoned urgently to attend to patients with deteriorating medical conditions. The aim is to prevent further deterioration and to decide if enhanced levels of care are appropriate (e.g. on the high-dependency or intensive care units). The team will also assume the role of the *cardiac-arrest team.... medical emergency team
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