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| Emergency Room |
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| on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 - 01:42 PM CET - 5478 Reads |
First Aid
 What happens when a patient arrives at the emergency department?
When a patient arrives at an emergency department with chest pain it is taken very seriously
He or she undergoes a series of tests to evaluate the seriousness of the pain.
The "triage nurse" who is experienced in assessing patient’s with chest pain will make the first of many assessments. It is common to be taken straight into the main department upon arrival.
 All the tests will usually take place in the emergency room.
The patient is given oxygen, and attached to central monitors that will record blood pressure, respiratory rate, and heart rate. A tracing of the heart rhythm is taken to check for abnormal beats this is called an ECG (or EKG in USA). A special monitor called a pulse oximeter is also attached to the patient’s finger and this machine monitors the oxygen levels within the body letting the medical staff know how effective the patient is breathing and if they need to adjust the oxygen flow. The patient is usually asked to rate the pain on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being no pain and 10 being the strongest pain to evaluate the seriousness of the attack.
A nurse or doctor will insert an IV line (intravenous) for safety reasons and to draw blood off the patient. The blood samples are sent to the laboratory and checked in 20 min.
The ECG/EKG taken on arrival to the department will be checked by a doctor. These recordings can help doctors to plan and prescribe the appropriate course of treatment for the patient. In the mean time, the blood samples should be back from the laboratory. They are compared to EGC recordings, chest X-rays and the patient’s condition.
The patient may be given morphine; the amount is dependant on their level of pain (as assessed earlier by the pain scale 0-10) and their baseline recordings (BP,P,RR,and Oxygen levels). At any one time, a cardiologist may be called to assess the patient, and evaluate if the chest pains are medical or surgical.
From the emergency department the patient will either be monitored for 24 hours in emergency or transferred to the appropriate ward for further investigations and treatment. |
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