Rating for Emergencies

If a family member is injured or becomes critically ill at home, a standard response is to carry him to the car and head for the nearest hospital. That could be a mistake, says Dr. Oscar P. Hampton Jr., chairman of the A.M.A.'s Commission on Emergency Medical Services, in the A.M.A. magazine Prism; the nearest hospital may not be the best in the long or even the short run. Hampton proposes a system of classifying hospitals according to the emergency services they can offer; those with a top rating would be able to handle the most severe, life-threatening situations. The classification would not reflect the care generally available, Hampton emphasizes, because many of the nation's finest hospitals are not geared to handle serious emergencies. It would simply highlight the hospitals that could respond best to an emergency.

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