What is it?
Emergency medicine is one of the medical specialties. It is the recognition and treatment of medical emergencies, i.e. acutely occurring and possibly life-threatening conditions. The restoration and maintenance of vital functions are also included. In other words, in emergency medicine, breathing, heart function and oxygen saturation play a decisive role.
What does an emergency physician do?
An emergency physician usually works outside of clinical facilities and is called on to assist in operations to rescue people in a threatening situation. Here, the emergency physician must position the patient and prepare him or her for transport to a hospital. This includes above all restoring or maintaining vital functions.
Resuscitation, artificial respiration or the administration of medication may be necessary. An emergency physician is also responsible for guarding the patient during transport. The emergency physician decides which measures are to be taken at the scene of the accident or the available location.
In disaster medicine, which is also part of emergency medicine, the emergency physicians work together with the disaster control. A senior emergency physician takes over the management of the emergency. In the clinic itself, the emergency rooms are sometimes divided, so that the emergency physician is brought to the surgical or internal emergency room as needed.
In other hospitals, there is a central emergency medical service that takes care of all emergencies. At the scene of the incident itself, it is the task of an emergency physician to identify threatening conditions of the patient and to treat them. Quick action is very important, which is why the prescribed guideline times for certain examinations are shorter than in a hospital.
How to become an emergency physician? Further education and training
An emergency physician is a doctor who has completed all medical studies and works in a clinic. A prerequisite for the designation “emergency physician” is additionally a special further training, which can only be completed if at least two years of clinical activity can be proven. In addition, assignments in certain specialties must be demonstrated. For example, six months in the areas of intensive care, anesthesia or emergency room are required. In addition, an 80-hour theoretical course is required, as well as 50 missions in an emergency ambulance or rescue helicopter, which must take place under the supervision of an experienced emergency physician.
