Medical Emergencies – How to Assess and Respond
People receiving services often have complex medical needs that can lead to emergencies. When an issue strikes, staff must be properly trained in response guidelines to ensure immediate assistance is provided. A delay in accessing medical care can have potentially catastrophic consequences. Multiple studies have identified that individuals with special needs are more likely to have co-occurring conditions including heart disease, diabetes, and epilepsy than the general population, making timely access to quality health care even more critical.
Creating a hierarchy of needs for assessing and responding to emergent situations is the best way to set staff up for success. Below, we’ve provided an at-a-glance guide to aid staff in this process.
Most Emergent – Call 9-1-1
- Abdominal pain, severe/constant
- Bleeding heavily
- Broken bones
- Breathing difficulty, shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Choking
- Consciousness, change or loss of consciousness or fainting
- Fall: with head injury, if unable to get up, limbs appear deformed
- Overdose, suspected
- Poisoning
- Swelling, neck or face (suspected allergic reaction)
- Seizures, new onset or increased frequency
- Standing, unable to bear weight (normally able to do so)
- Stroke, suspected (one-sided weakness/numbness, facial drooping, slurred speech)
- Suicidal or homicidal feelings
- Vision, sudden change or loss
- Vomiting (or diarrhea) bloody
Go to Emergency Department
- Burns with skin damage or blisters
- Falls, gets up on own but complains of pain
- Vomiting, projectile lasting >6 hours, unable to hold down small sips of liquid
- Vomiting or diarrhea lasting >12 hours
Call RN On-Call or Physician
- Bleeding, moderate that stops after 5 minutes of direct pressure
- Blood pressure changes (upper number 200 or above)
- Blood pressure changes (upper number below 90 when normally above 90)
- Burn, sunburn or mild burn (redness only)
- Chills, shaking with or without fever
- Confusion, of new onset
- Fall, no apparent injury
- Fever >100 degrees, or <95 degrees
- Incontinence, new onset
- Vomiting or diarrhea and individual is alert
Download a printable copy of the above guidelines below.
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