Anesthesia-Online

Emergency medicine

What's this?

Emergency medicine is one of the medical specialties. It is understood to mean the detection and treatment of medical emergencies, i.e. acute and possibly life-threatening conditions. It also includes restoring and maintaining vital functions. This means that breathing, the function of the heart and oxygen saturation play a decisive role in emergency medicine.

Also read that Articles on the topic: First aid

What does an emergency doctor do?

An emergency physician usually works outside of clinical facilities and is called on to do missions to rescue people in a threatening situation. Here the emergency doctor has to store the patient and prepare them for transport to a hospital. Above all, this includes restoring or maintaining vital functions. Ventilation, resuscitation, or the administration of medication may be necessary. An emergency doctor is also responsible for guarding the patient during transport. The emergency doctor decides which measures are to be taken at the accident site or the present location.

In disaster medicine, which is also part of emergency medicine, the emergency physicians work together with disaster control. A senior emergency physician takes over the management of the operation.

In the clinic itself, the emergency rooms are sometimes split up so that the emergency doctor can be brought to the surgical or internal emergency room as required. In other hospitals there is a central emergency doctor service that records all emergencies.

At the scene of the incident, it is the task of an emergency physician to recognize threatening conditions in the patient and to take care of them. It is very important to act quickly, which is why the recommended times for certain examinations are shorter than in hospitals.

How do you become an emergency doctor? Continuing education and training

An emergency physician is a doctor who has completed a full medical degree and works in a clinic. A prerequisite for the designation "emergency physician" is also a special further education, which can only be completed if at least two years of clinical activity can be proven. In addition, assignments in certain disciplines must be shown, so six months in the areas of intensive medicine, anesthesia or emergency room are included. In addition, an 80-hour theory course is necessary, as well as 50 missions in the ambulance or rescue helicopter, which must take place under the supervision of an experienced emergency doctor.

What salary can an emergency doctor expect?

Since there are hardly any doctors who only work as emergency doctors, it is difficult to assess how much an emergency doctor earns. Often anesthetists or intensive care physicians also work as emergency doctors and are then paid according to their salary. It depends on the position of the doctor in the hospital. A senior doctor earns more than a ward doctor. The assignments are sometimes additionally remunerated.

If you have a job as a pure emergency doctor at a clinic, you will usually pay by the hour. The gross salary can be between 20 and 40 euros per hour. Depending on the clinic, the operations may also be paid for with a flat rate of a similar amount.

To find out what condition the patient is in, a trauma check is carried out and all body regions are scanned and examined for possible serious injuries. Particular attention is paid to pain. The Neurocheck provides information about the functionality of the nervous system. This is particularly essential for spinal injuries and vertebral fractures.

Various devices are available to the emergency physician for diagnosis. The emergency doctor can record an EKG (electrocardiogram) in order to be able to assess the function of the heart. The oxygen content of the blood can be determined with the help of a pulse oximeter and the exhaled CO2 can be measured using capnometry, which allows conclusions to be drawn about the breathing activity. A measurement of blood sugar can also be carried out to get an overview of the patient's metabolic status.

Depending on the condition in which the patient is, access must be made. The patient has to be treated or even resuscitated with the help of an endotracheal tube (tubular product that is inserted into the windpipe for ventilation). In the case of external injuries, it is necessary to properly care for the wounds and stop bleeding.

The further training to become an emergency physician includes aspects of the legal basis in the rescue service and also provides knowledge of the activities. Medication administration, storage, ventilation techniques, resuscitation and other things are part of the training.

Further information that may be of interest to you: