RT Book, Section A1 Ary, Roy A1 Leigh LeGros, Tracy A2 Cooney, Derek R. SR Print(0) ID 1126793901 T1 Pain Management, Sedation, and Anesthesia T2 Cooney's EMS Medicine YR 2016 FD 2016 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071775649 LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1126793901 RD 2024/10/12 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.”