Recognition

    OK, so what constitutes an emergency? That's a question those of us in EMS have been asking ourselves for a long time. Every time we get a call at 4 AM for someone with a toothache.
    Especially in these days days of managed care, this is an important question. Is this a real emergency? Will my insurance cover this trip to the ER? Basically, I look at it this way; if a reasonable lay person considers there to be a threat to life or limb, or if it's an acute (meaning sudden onset) medical or trauma situation, then it's an emergency.
    But it's still a judgement call. The 80 year old woman who lives by herself, might consider a stomach virus that hasn't allowed her to keep food down all day, a little bit differently than the 18 year old EMT who comes to take her to the ER.
    And that's a question that I'm not even going to try to resolve here. Let's just say that someone has what they consider an emergency. What do they do?