TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Pain Management, Sedation, and Anesthesia A1 - Ary, Roy A1 - Leigh LeGros, Tracy A2 - Cooney, Derek R. PY - 2016 T2 - Cooney's EMS Medicine AB - Pain is the most common emergency complaint. The World Health Organization supports optimal pain treatment as a fundamental human right (http://who.int/mediacetre/news/notes/2007/np31/en/). Several prehospital studies have shown inadequate analgesia for these patients. Factors associated with failures in the management of prehospital pain include underestimation of pain, underdosing of analgesia medications, underfrequency of dosing, and inappropriate withholding of analgesia. The importance of prehospital analgesia has been outlined by the Emergency Medical Services Outcomes Project in (the United States as follows: “the relief of discomfort might be the most important task EMS providers perform for the majority of their patients.” This sentiment was also advocated by the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP), who issued a position paper stating that the relief of pain should be a priority for every EMS system. A more to the point assessment of prehospital undertreatment of pain was given in a Basket editorial: “The blame for ‘oligoanalgesias’ must be laid at the door of physicians in authority who have, through ignorance, underplayed the physiologic and psychological benefits of analgesia and overplayed the potential deleterious side effects of agents that are commonly available.” SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/10/04 UR - accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1126793901 ER -