Prehospital care

Prehospital care is medical assessment and treatment provided before a patient reaches a hospital, often at the scene of an emergency or during transport.

Emergency medical services: Organized systems that respond to medical emergencies and provide care before and during transport. These services organize most professional prehospital responses.
Emergency medical technician: A trained prehospital clinician who provides emergency assessment, basic interventions, and transport. EMTs provide frontline care within their training and local protocols.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation: Emergency chest compressions and, when indicated, rescue breaths used to support circulation and breathing. It is an immediate intervention for patients in cardiac arrest.
Chain of survival: A sequence of coordinated actions intended to improve outcomes after cardiac arrest. It shows how early recognition and prehospital resuscitation connect to later treatment.
Hospital medicine: Medical care delivered within a hospital by its clinical teams and services. It follows prehospital care but offers different facilities, staffing, and diagnostic resources.
Emergency medical dispatch: The call-taking and instruction process that coordinates emergency responses and may guide care before responders arrive. Dispatchers can start a response and give callers immediate instructions.
Paramedic: An advanced prehospital clinician trained to provide a broader range of emergency interventions. Paramedics may deliver advanced procedures and medications before hospital arrival.
Prehospital trauma care: Assessment and treatment of injured patients before arrival at a hospital. Trauma care illustrates how field treatment and destination decisions interact.
Time-sensitive diagnosis: Recognition of a condition for which delays in diagnosis and treatment can worsen outcomes. Field recognition can accelerate care for conditions such as stroke or severe trauma.
Urgent care center: An outpatient clinic that treats conditions needing prompt attention but not hospital emergency services. It is a non-emergency alternative for some conditions, unlike ambulance-based emergency response.

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