Integrated Clinical Clerkship in Emergency Medicine AY 2021- 2022

In emergency situations or when there is an acute threat to life, pre-hospital care will be the primary determinant as to whether or not that patient will get a chance to survive the initial injury and eventually have a full recovery. Most of these conditions require an initial assessment and some form of intervention. The series of actions that take place from the site of injury until the patient is able to reach the emergency department of the hospital or a center capable of providing intensive care play a big role in determining the prognosis of the patient. This is why proper training and adequate supply of emergency and resuscitative equipment are extremely important. In addition to that, most of these conditions also have a “golden period” or an amount of time from injury in which intervention should be done in order to prevent permanent or significant damage. Beyond this golden period, interventions would be of little significance, sometimes even futile. These highlight how important it is to have a functional and efficient pre-hospital care system. Functioning prehospital care systems also improve access to health care in that patients are able to make it to a health institution, be it a local health center or tertiary hospital, faster and easier.