Guidelines for Providing Emergency Care

The remainder of this chapter presents specific emergency situations that may be encountered by the medical assistant and the emergency care for each. The following guidelines should be followed when providing emergency care:

1. Remain calm, and speak in a normal tone of voice. These measures help calm and reassure the patient.

2. Make sure that the scene is safe before approaching the patient. It is important that you protect yourself from harm in an emergency situation.

3. Before administering emergency care to a conscious patient, you must first have permission or consent. To obtain consent, you must inform the patient who you are, your level of training, and what you are going to do to help. Never administer care to a conscious patient who refuses it. When a life-threatening condition exists and the patient is unconscious or otherwise unable to give consent, consent is assumed or implied. Under law, it is implied that if the patient could give consent to care, he or she would.

4. Follow the OSHA Standards when providing emergency care to reduce or eliminate exposure to bloodborne pathogens or other potentially infectious materials.

5. Know how to activate your local emergency medical services (EMS) system. Activating the EMS is often the most important step you can take to help a patient who has experienced an injury or sudden illness.

6. Do not move the patient unnecessarily. Unnecessary movement can result in further injury or even be life-threatening to a patient with a serious condition.

7. Obtain information as to what happened from the patient, family members, coworkers, bystanders, and so on.

8. Look for a medical alert tag on the patient's wrist or neck. A medical alert tag provides information on a medical condition the patient may have.

9. Continue caring for the patient until more highly trained personnel arrive. On the arrival of emergency medical personnel or a physician, relay the condition in which you found the patient and the emergency care that has been administered.