According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, the following are warning signs of a medical emergency:

Bleeding that will not stop

Bleeding is the loss of blood. Bleeding may be:

Inside the body (internally)
Outside the body (externally)

Bleeding may occur:

Inside the body when blood leaks from blood vessels or organs
Outside the body when blood flows through a natural opening (such as the ear, nose, mouth, vagina, or rectum)
Outside the body when blood moves through a break in the skin

Breathing problems (difficulty breathing, shortness of breath)

Breathing difficulty may involve:

Difficult breathing
Uncomfortable breathing
Feeling like you are not getting enough air

Change in mental status (such as unusual behavior, confusion, difficulty arousing)

Confusion is the inability to think as clearly or quickly as you normally do. You may feel disoriented and have difficulty paying attention, remembering, and making decisions.

Chest pain

Chest pain is discomfort or pain that you feel anywhere along the front of your body between your neck and upper abdomen.

Choking

Coughing up or vomiting blood

Coughing up blood is the spitting up of blood or bloody mucus from the lungs and throat (respiratory tract).

Hemoptysis is the medical term for coughing up blood from the respiratory tract.

Fainting or loss of consciousness
The feeling of committing suicide or murder
Head or spine injury
Severe or persistent vomiting
Sudden injury due to a motor vehicle accident, burns or smoke inhalation, near drowning, a deep or large wound, or other injuries
Sudden, severe pain anywhere in the body

Sudden dizziness, weakness, or change in vision

Dizziness is a term that is often used to describe 2 different symptoms:

lightheadedness and vertigo.

Lightheadedness is a feeling that you might faint.

Vertigo is a feeling that you are spinning or moving, or that the world is spinning around you. Vertigo-associated disorders are a related topic.

Swallowing a poisonous substance

Severe abdominal pain or pressure

Abdominal pain is pain that you feel anywhere between your chest and groin. This is often referred to as the stomach region or belly.

BE PREPARED:

Determine the location and quickest route to the nearest emergency department before an emergency happens.

Keep emergency phone numbers posted in your home where you can easily access them. Also, enter the numbers into your cell phone.

Everyone in your household, including children, should know when and how to call these numbers.

These numbers include the fire department, police department, poison control center, ambulance center, your doctors’ phone numbers, contact numbers of neighbors or nearby friends or relatives, and work phone numbers.

Know at which hospital(s) your doctor practices and, if practical, go there in an emergency.

Wear a medical identification tag if you have a chronic condition or look for one on a person who has any of the symptoms mentioned.

Get a personal emergency response system if you’re an older adult, especially if you live alone.

If you or someone you know is thinking about hurting yourself or others, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.

You can also call 1-800-273-8255 (1-800-273-TALK).

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline provides free and confidential support 24/7, anytime day or night.

You can also call 911 or the local emergency number or go to the hospital emergency room. DO NOT delay.

If someone you know has attempted suicide, call 911 or the local emergency number right away.

DO NOT leave the person alone, even after you have called for help.

Always take suicide attempts and threats seriously.

WHAT TO DO IF SOMEONE NEEDS HELP:

Stay calm, and call 911 or your local emergency number.

Start CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) or rescue breathing, if necessary and if you know the proper technique.

CPR stands for cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

It is an emergency life-saving procedure that is done when someone’s breathing or heartbeat has stopped.

This may happen after a medical emergency, such as an electric shock, heart attack, or drowning.

CPR combines rescue breathing and chest compressions.

Rescue breathing provides oxygen to the person’s lungs.

Chest compressions keep oxygen-rich blood flowing until the heartbeat and breathing can be restored.

Permanent brain damage or death can occur within minutes if blood flow stops.

Therefore, it is very important that blood flow and breathing be continued until trained medical help arrives.

Emergency operators at 911 or the local emergency number can guide you through the process.

CPR techniques vary slightly depending on the age or size of the person, including different techniques for adults and children who have reached puberty, children 1 year old until the onset of puberty, and infants (babies less than 1 year of age).

Place a semiconscious or unconscious person in the recovery position until the ambulance arrives.

DO NOT move the person, however, if there has been or may have been a neck injury.

Upon arriving at an emergency room, the person will be evaluated right away.

Life or limb-threatening conditions will be treated first.

People with conditions that are not life or limb-threatening may have to wait.

CALL 911 OR YOUR LOCAL EMERGENCY NUMBER IF:

The person’s condition is life-threatening (for example, the person is having a heart attack or severe allergic reaction)

Most heart attacks are caused by a blood clot that blocks one of the coronary arteries.

The coronary arteries bring blood and oxygen to the heart. If the blood flow is blocked, the heart is starved of oxygen, and heart cells die.

The medical term for this is myocardial infarction.

A substance called plaque can build up in the walls of your coronary arteries.

This plaque is made up of cholesterol and other cells.

A heart attack may occur when:

A disruption in the plaque occurs.

This triggers blood platelets and other substances to form a blood clot at the site that blocks most or all of the oxygen-carrying blood from flowing to a part of the heart muscle.

This is the most common cause of heart attack.

The cause of heart attack is not always known, but there are well-known risk factors.

A heart attack may occur:

When you are resting or asleep
After a sudden increase in physical activity
When you are active outside in cold weather
After sudden, severe emotional or physical stress, including an illness

The person’s condition could become life-threatening on the way to the hospital

Moving the person could cause further injury (for example, in case of a neck injury or motor vehicle accident)

The person needs the skills or equipment of paramedics

Traffic conditions or distance might cause a delay in getting the person to the hospital

Anaphylaxis is a severe, whole-body allergic reaction to a chemical that has become an allergen.

An allergen is a substance that can cause an allergic reaction.

Anaphylaxis is life-threatening and can occur at any time. Risks include a history of any type of allergic reaction.

After being exposed to a substance such as a bee sting venom, the person’s immune system becomes sensitized to it.

When the person is exposed to that allergen again, an allergic reaction may occur.

Anaphylaxis happens quickly after exposure. The condition is severe and involves the whole body.

Tissues in different parts of the body release histamine and other substances. This causes the airways to tighten and leads to other symptoms.

Some drugs (morphine, x-ray dye, aspirin, and others) may cause a type of anaphylactic-like reaction (anaphylactoid reaction) when people are first exposed to them.

These reactions are not the same as the immune system response that occurs with true anaphylaxis. But, the symptoms, risk of complications, and treatment are the same for both types of reactions.

Anaphylaxis can occur in response to any allergen.

Common causes include:

Drug allergies
Food allergies
Insect bites/stings

Pollen and other inhaled allergens rarely cause anaphylaxis.

Some people have an anaphylactic reaction with no known cause.

Drug allergies are a group of symptoms caused by an allergic reaction to a drug (medicine).

A drug allergy involves an immune response in the body that produces an allergic reaction to a medicine.

The first time you take the medicine, you may have no problems.

But, your body’s immune system may produce a substance (antibody) against that drug.

The next time you take the drug, the antibody may tell your white blood cells to make a chemical called histamine.

Histamines and other chemicals cause your allergy symptoms. The reaction of the body when a drug allergy is present generally involves special cells called B and T cell lymphocytes.

Common allergy-causing drugs include:

Drugs used to treat seizures
Insulin (especially animal sources of insulin)
Substances containing iodine, such as x-ray contrast dyes (these can cause allergy-like reactions)
Penicillin and related antibiotics
Sulfa drugs

A food allergy is a type of immune response triggered by eggs, peanuts, milk, shellfish, or some other specific food.

Many people have a food intolerance. This term usually refers to heartburn, cramps, belly pain, or diarrhea that can occur after they eat foods such as:

Corn products
Cow’s milk and dairy products (lactose intolerance)
Wheat and other grains that contain gluten (celiac disease)

A true food allergy is much less common.

The immune system normally protects the body against harmful substances, such as bacteria and viruses. It also reacts to foreign substances called allergens.

These are usually harmless, and in most people, do not cause a problem.

Insect bites and stings can cause an immediate skin reaction.

The bite from fire ants and the sting from bees, wasps, and hornets are most often painful.

Bites caused by mosquitoes, fleas, and mites are more likely to cause itching than pain.

Insect and spider bites cause more deaths from venom reactions than bites from snakes.

Most deaths from insect bites are due to allergic reactions to the venom, rather than the toxins in the venom itself.

In most cases, bites and stings can be easily treated at home.

Some people have extreme reactions that require immediate treatment to prevent death.

Certain spider bites, such as the black widow or brown recluse, can cause serious illness or death.

Most spider bites are harmless. If possible, bring the insect or spider that bit you with you when you go for treatment so it can be identified.