MEDICAL EMERGENCIES

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By the grace of God, 2024 is coming to its end. During the year, I wrote and spoke a lot about politics, democracy and development. Today, I want to address you, my brethren, as a Physician. I recall that when I was last home in Ghana, my brother from another mother and Senior, Dr. Kwabena Opoku Adusei, gently admonished me to do more to inspire and to teach my profession, medicine, and about my life’s journey. Often, at times like these, I focus mostly on annual check-ups and screenings, etc. Those topics, obviously, do matter and will always matter. So, in the new year, do get with your doctors to be screened for BP and Diabetes and Cancers and Mental Health etc. For this coming year, however, I want to bend your ears, respectfully, about medical emergencies.

These are illnesses, injuries, symptoms or conditions that are so serious that a reasonable person would seek care right away to avoid severe harm. Most of the time, the best place for such care is a hospital. I recall that while teaching at University of Cape Coast School of Medicine, I received a call from a political friend. He informed me that a group of them were in Cape Coast and one of them had a severe headache and dizziness. He asked if I could come to their hotel and evaluate the sick person. I said I could but that would be bad care. Instead, I persuaded them to meet me at the hospital where, in a side room, I took a good history, examined the patient, made a diagnosis and prescribed medication. Here in the US, even the President is taken to the hospital for suspected emergencies but too many Ghanaian big people treasure home care– even for emergencies.

If you have an emergency, regardless of who you are, the sooner you get to a hospital, the better your chances. Generally, emergencies include difficulty breathing, choking, chest pain, heart attack, unconsciousness, uncontrolled bleeding,high and low sugars in a Diabetic, fall from significant heights, accidents, severe diarrhea and vomiting, amongst other things. Obviously, one cannot cover emergencies completely here but my point is to start a conversation. Now, let me highlight a few of these. A few years ago, during campaign season, I chanced upon a senior politician and his wife engaged in deep, hushed conversation. When I asked what was happening, they told me an amazing story. The wife, in her thirties, had gone for an “executive physical ” and had tubes of blood and a ECG done a week earlier. When she returned for follow-up, she was handed her results and told “You are having a heart attack”. She got into her car and drove at breakneck speed to her husband.

I reviewed the EKG together with her history and reassured them firmly that she was not having a heart attack. The point here is that a patient suspected of having a heart attack– manifested by chestpain, Shortness of breath and occasionally left arm pain, belongs in hospital till it is determined that he/she is not having a heart attack. In the same way, if you suspect you or a family member might be having a stroke, the patient should be transported to the hospital immediately. A stroke may manifest as weakness in a limb, distortion of facial symmetry or slurring of speech.

When you suspect a stroke, head to the nearest hospital. Even Doctors have been known to miss their own diagnosis. A few years ago, a physician here collapsed and died from a heart attack after what he described as ” heartburn” for 3 days. On heart attacks and strokes, time is “brain or heart” so there should be urgency. It is not for nothing that there is a blood vessel in the heart called, ” widow-maker”. High and low blood sugars are always emergencies, unless you have been educated about them. I once met a very rich Ghanaian Diabetic on Insulin with 5 SUVs in his compound and NO GLUCOMETER!! When I asked when he checked his sugars, he replied, “When I visit my Doctor, every 3 months.”.

Now, every Diabetic should have a Glucometer and it should be valued more than his SUVs!. Let me highlight a couple more of these. Vaginal bleeding in a pregnant woman is always an emergency with 2 lives at stake. Get the woman to the hospital. My last point is Motor Vehicle Accidents. Too often, people involved in accidents have no obvious injury. If you are involved in an accident leading to serious injury or death in others, please get yourself checked out. Sometimes, there is damage to internal organs. I know that I only scratched the surface of emergencies. If you belong to a church or group with a Doctor, ask him or her to talk to you about emergencies.

If you are a media house, get a physician to educate the public on emergencies through your medium. Now, I know the in-coming President has been receiving lots of requests. I have 2 of President Mahama. First, Sir, in addition to the National Day of prayer, consider a “National Health Education Week” in collaboration with the Ghana Medical Association. We have been doing this for years and your participation will give it vim. Secondly, institute CPR training for our schools and willing public to help deal with health emergencies. The last time I met him, the President-elect was leaving for a funeral of a friend who died from a heart attack. So naturally, we discussed Healthcare.

Hopefully, in addition these 2 requests, the President will translate some of the concerns we shared into policy. May God protect and bless us all through 2025. Arthur Kobina Kennedy, MD. 26th December, 2024.