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Emergency Medicine

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Abstract

Over the last 70 years, the emergency department (ED) has developed into one of the key access points for medical care. The ED has three primary care functions (1) stabilization of critically ill patients, (2) acute diagnostic care, and (3) health care access and treatment linkage. It is often the main entry point of the hospital and provides a medical safety net for many under- or uninsured individuals in the fragmented American medical system. This chapter provides a basic overview of the correct approach to LGBTQ patients in the ED regardless of chief complaint. It then discusses conditions that disproportionately affect LGBTQ people or that require a highly intentional approach: acute sexual health complaints, trauma, psychiatric emergencies, intoxication, and withdrawal. Finally, special considerations for transgender people and homeless LGBTQ youth are discussed.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. The first listed author is the chapter’s associate editor from The Equal Curriculum Project. The chapter authors are otherwise ordered according to their preference.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Boston University School of Medicine, Center for Transgender Medicine & Surgery, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Carl G. Streed Jr.

  2. Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Elizabeth A. Samuels

  3. Harrington Memorial Hospital, Southbridge, MA, USA

    Joyce Rosenfeld

Authors
  1. Carl G. Streed Jr.
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  2. Elizabeth A. Samuels
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  3. Joyce Rosenfeld
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Carl G. Streed Jr. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    James R. Lehman

  2. Medical Directorate, Defense Health Agency-National Capital, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Kristine Diaz

  3. MetroHealth Medical Center, The MetroHealth System, Cleveland, OH, USA

    Henry Ng

  4. UW School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Elizabeth M. Petty

  5. University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA

    Meena Thatikunta

  6. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Kristen Eckstrand

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Streed, C.G., Samuels, E.A., Rosenfeld, J. (2020). Emergency Medicine. In: Lehman, J., Diaz, K., Ng, H., Petty, E., Thatikunta, M., Eckstrand, K. (eds) The Equal Curriculum. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24025-7_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24025-7_10

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