- In the face of neurological emergencies, it is essential to offer immediate care because millions of neurons die every minute.
- Cerebral infarction and epilepsy are the most common alterations.
- Hospital emergency services are of vital importance for the initial care of critical patients.
The practice of Medicine is full of challenges, although there are pathologies that are more frequent than others. An example is neurological emergencies, such as strokes, which maintain a high incidence in Mexico and are already a public health problem. In fact, cerebral infarction and epilepsy are the most common alterations.
These conditions can be difficult to diagnose, and delays in recognition and treatment can have devastating results. Some are the high rates of long-term disability and can even cause death, as reported at the Interinstitutional Congress of Intensive Care “Quality and safety in the impact of nursing in critical care” organized by the Mexican Association of Nurses Specialized in Critical Medicine and Intensive Care (AMEEMCTI).
Within the event, Dr. Daniel Sánchez Arreola, president of the Mexican Society of Emergency Medicine (SMME), participated with the paper “Neurological assessment scales in emergencies”.
He mentioned that when a person is suffering from a neurological emergency, time is of the essence. This is because for every minute that passes without the person receiving treatment, millions of neurons die in his brain, which complicates the chances of a successful recovery.
Therefore, it is recommended that people with neurological emergencies receive prehospital care while awaiting neurological consultation. Following this same line, the care of patients with acute neurological pathologies in health establishments constitutes a latent concern.
According to what Dr. Sánchez Arreola said: “immediate, timely and effective care depends not only on the survival of the patient, but also on his recovery with the least possible degree of sequelae.”
Adversities faced by neurological emergencies in public health
So, the Hospital emergency services are of vital importance for the initial care of the critical patient. However, care is often hampered by the saturation of services, long waiting times and the lack of specialized personnel.
Specifically, it is estimated that delays in emergency services increase up to 1.6 times the chances that the person will die or that their hospital stay will be longer. Hence the importance of improving the care processes of emergency services, because through them hospital costs can be reduced and the patient’s health and quality of life can be improved.
There are several aspects that doctors must assess for the detection of the pathology even before the relevant specialized tests or studies, which will allow decisions regarding treatment to be made. For example, depending on the incident, an assessment of the person’s mental state should be made, taking into account their level of consciousness and orientation; an assessment of speech and language, motor function, sensitivity and coordination, as well as a pupil examination.
In that sense, the use of a Adequate medical triage, a rapid assessment system, transmission and strategic placement of medical staff in the emergency department improves patient flow. That is, it can be improved by implementing new work patterns, new technologies, and effective management strategies.
The complexity of neurological diseases, their diagnoses and their treatments, as well as a narrow therapeutic window in prevalent pathologies such as cerebral infarction, make urgent neurological care a fundamental aspect for the efficiency of treatments.
About the Mexican Society of Emergency Medicine
The SMME is a civil association established in 1989, created for academic, scientific and cultural purposes. It is made up of professionals in emergency medicine, as well as pre-hospital and nursing staff.
Its main objectives are the continuous medical updating of its members, favoring and promoting scientific research in the area of emergency medicine, as well as the dissemination of informative and educational content for civil society.
