What are various symptoms, signs, statements, questions, issues, and histories that should raise suspicion of a medical emergency?
There are at least 160 such symptoms, signs, statements, questions, issues, histories, and scenarios.
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Altered level of consciousness
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Airway obstruction
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Agitated Patient
(Acute stress reaction.)
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Attempted suicide.
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Attempted homicide.
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Abuse.
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Abdominal Pain.(Stomach pain)
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Any sudden or severe pain.
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Animal bites (may require rabies or tetanus shot).
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Armed Robbery.
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Allergic reactions.
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Asphyxia
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Bradycardia
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Bradypnea
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Brain death
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Breathing difficulties.
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Behavior that is dangerous to self or others and cannot be managed.
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Bleeding from any orifice or any part of human body that will not stop.
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Bleeding which does not stop after applying pressure.
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Being beaten by someone.
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Burns.
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Bites.
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Bloody Sputum
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Broken bones.
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Behavior-related emergencies.
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Change in mental status (such as unusual behavior, confusion, and difficulty arousing).
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Changes in vision.
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Chest pain.
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Choking.
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Cough with fever.
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Coughing up or vomiting blood.
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Confusion or changes in mental status
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Cuts and abrasions.
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Chest or upper abdominal pain or pressure lasting two minutes or more.
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Difficulty breathing.
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Difficulty speaking.
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Disoriented.
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Difficulty getting up.
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Difficulty in passing urine.
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Difficulty in passing feces.
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Domestic Violence
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Drowning or near drowning
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Dental emergencies.
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Emergency diagnosis and treatment in neonatal period.
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Emergency diagnosis and treatment after neonatal period.
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Earaches and ear infections.
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Electrical injury shock.
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Emergency Food
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Environmental factors (hostile environment).
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Fainting.
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Fever.
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Foreign bodies in nose or ears.
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Fainting or loss of consciousness.
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Fainting, sudden dizziness, weakness, seizure.
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Feeling of committing suicide or murder.
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Fever with breathlessness.
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Functional impairment (not taking care of self. inability to gain relevant skills and knowledge relevant to age).
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Human Rights Violations
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Head or spine injury.
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Head injury.
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Human Pregnancy Emergencies
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Hypothermia - frostbite.
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Hypotension
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Head pain that lasts longer than five minutes.
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“High Blood Pressure” is rarely a chief complaint, but instead more commonly a physical
finding.
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Intentional enforced harms.
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Involuntary admission to a psychiatric facility
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Irritability
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Loss of consciousness.
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Loss of consciousness not related to a seizure
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Loosening of social inhibitions.
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Loss of memory
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Loss of balance or coordination
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Likely to be harmful to self or others.
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Low abdominal pain.
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Medicine overdose.
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Medicolegal cases
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Nosebleeds.
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No pulse
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Pain.
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Palpitations.
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Poisoning.
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Poisoning including overdoses of medication.
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Persistent or severe vomiting.
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Persistent unexplained fever even with Tylenol use.
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Puncture wounds.
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Personality disorders (harmful to others).
Panic attacks.
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Psychosis(delusions, hallucinations, catatonia, thought disorder, loss of contact with reality).
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Rape.
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Pregnancy-related emergencies.
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Possible serious bone fractures.
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Rashes.
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Restlessness
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Survival Needs
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Starvation
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Suicidal feelings.
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Surgical Emergencies
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Significant trauma (to the head, stomach, chest)
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Syncope.
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Seizure or convulsion
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Seizure lasting over five minutes or continuous seizures
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Severe asthmatic attack when prescribed medications do not work
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Severe injuries as a result of accidents such as broken bones
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Severe reactions to a medication with difficulty breathing or itching.
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Severe reactions to insect bites or other previously unknown allergic reactions
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Sore throat & fever
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Slurred speech
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Sunburn.
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Severe neck or back injury.
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Sexual intercourse due to conspiracy.
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Severe or persistent vomiting.
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Severe or persistent vomiting or diarrhea.
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Severe headache.
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Severe burns.
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Severe pain in any part of the body that does not subside.
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Serious drug reactions with psychiatric or non-psychiatric medications.
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Syncope or unconsciousness.
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Sudden or severe pain.
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Sudden loss of vision.
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Suicidal or homicidal feelings.
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Sudden asthma attack that does not stop.
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Sudden numbness or not being able to move an arm, leg, or one side of the body.
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Sever headache with fever or vomiting.
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Sudden injury or trauma due to a motor vehicle crash, burns, smoke inhalation, near drowning, wound, etc.
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Substance abuse.
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Sudden severe pain anywhere in the body.
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Sudden dizziness, weakness, or change in vision.
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Swallowing a poisonous substance.
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Shock symptoms, e.g., confusion, disorientation, cool/clammy, pale skin.
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Severe or persistent vomiting or diarrhea.
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Stroke or suspected stroke (paralysis, numbness, confusion)
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Tachycardia
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Tachypnea
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Throat Problems
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Trauma and Gunshot wounds: What you need to know to save a life.
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Trauma Ocular
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Trauma with unconsciousness.
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Trauma with cuts, sprains, or abrasions.
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Trauma with open fracture.
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Trauma with pain on mobility.
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Trauma with swelling.
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Trouble staying awake or alert
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Unable to detect breathing
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Unconsciousness.
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Unconsciousness with diabetes.
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Unconsciousness at a public location.
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Unusual behavior
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Sudden unconsciousness at home.
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Unable to move
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Uncontrolled bleeding
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Upper abdominal pain.
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Uncontrolled bleeding.
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Unusual abdominal pain.
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Unusual or persistent abdominal pain.
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Unexplained stupor, drowsiness or disorientation.
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Violence
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Violence or other rapid changes in behavior.
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Vomiting
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Vomiting or coughing blood.
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Vomiting and diarrhea.
Last Updated: August 20, 2016 |