The Economics of Emergency Care
Hospital Emergency Departments
How emergency departments in public hospitals are crowded and understaffed, why emergency medicine became a specialty in India, and the right to emergency treatment.
Hospital emergency departments face pressure.
Crowding
Public hospital emergencies are often overcrowded, with patients on trolleys or floors.
Specialty
Emergency medicine was recognised as a specialty relatively recently, and specialist numbers are growing.
Right to treatment
In Parmanand Katara v. Union of India (1989), the Supreme Court held that doctors must give emergency care without waiting for police formalities.
Private hospitals
Some private hospitals demanded deposits before emergency treatment; states issued rules against this.
Triage
Triage sorts patients by urgency.
A nurse in an emergency department sends a heart attack patient ahead of someone with a sprain.
The law requires emergency care.
- Public emergencies are crowded.
- Emergency medicine is a growing specialty.
- The 1989 Katara case requires emergency care.
- Triage prioritises urgent patients.
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