Team-Based Medical Care for Initial Treatment at the Emergency and Critical Care Center

Abstract

Patients who are admitted to the Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine are often referred to multiple diagnosis and treatment departments right from the start. Such patients also tend to be in a severe medical condition and in need of urgent medical treatment. For this reason, the Department of Emergency needs a medical team capable of prompt decisions and action in response to critical, life-threatening physiological abnormalities. Such a team, consisting of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, clinical engineers, etc., must be able to function in a smooth and concerted manner unobstructed by command lines or hierarchies. The team leader should carry the major responsibility of sharing information with the team and suitably and clearly communicating the treatment plans and procedures to be carried out, and the team as a whole would be evaluated on the medical care provided. Like all other forms of team-based medical care, the initial treatment provided at emergency and critical center of the Department of Emergency requires for the team members to enjoy mutual respect, share equal authority, and preserve a patient-centric system and attitude of cooperation.