Have you ever seen in hospitals, ambulances, emergency rooms and service stations, signs with the following statements: urgency or emergency?
I believe he answered “yes”, as these are terms very common to the types of environments mentioned above.
But how to differentiate them? They seem to have the same meaning, don't they?
How to differentiate something that is urgent from something that is emergent? It is not so simple, as the meanings of these words are similar, however, in the context of health, they are totally different, even as a matter of referral.
Emergency it is when there is a critical situation or something imminent, with the occurrence of danger; incident; unforeseen. In medicine, it is the circumstance that requires immediate surgery or medical intervention. Therefore, in some ambulances there is still “emergency” written backwards and not “urgency”.
Urgency it is when there is a situation that cannot be postponed, which must be resolved quickly, because if there is a delay, there is even a risk of death. In medicine, urgent occurrences require medical treatment and often surgery, however, they have a less immediate nature. This word comes from the verb “to urge” which means “does not accept delay”: Time is pressing, no matter what you do to try to stop it.
However, there are emergency situations that require urgent intervention, that is, they cannot be prolonged.
The difference is more concentrated in the field of medicine. For example: hemorrhages, respiratory arrest and cardiac arrest are emergencies. Dislocations, sprains, fractures (depending on severity) and dengue are urgent.
Currently, in most ambulances, only the word AMBULANCE is written, as the referral is made upon arrival at the hospital, and the driver just needs to know that he must open the way.
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By Sabrina Vilarinho
Graduated in Letters
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Imminent or Eminent? - Do you know the difference between these two terms? Click here to learn more!
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
VILARINHO, Sabrina. "Emergency and Urgency, What's the Difference?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/gramatica/emergencia-urgencia-qual-diferenca.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.