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"Emergent" or "Emergency"?
I'm pretty sure that I'm a member of an emergency organisation, not an emergent organisation...
According to my dictionary:
emergency n, v.i., sudden and urgent occasion for action
emergent adj. 1. emerging 2. (of a nation) recently independent & generally in early stage of development.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Greenman on
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Ah, but there are more definitions for "emergent" in the dictionary, aren't there? Numbers 4 and 5 are most germane to this discussion:
4. occurring unexpectedly. 5. requiring immediate attention; urgent.
Both have their own place in usage, although both can be used as adjectives.
So, an emergency is certainly an "emergent situation," but you would probably call the lights on a Engine "emergency lights."
Greenman
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Permalink Reply by Brian Mackie on
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Yah, you may belong to an emergency organisation... there are however, many many more people that belong to emergency organizations.
So, like Greenman said... yes, emergent has its rightful place within the confines of this wonderful world of emergency services.
You have a waiting room at an ER.... you have a lady with a broken finger nail.... nah.. not so emergent. You have a man turning blue ( not from explaining things too much to people who don't get it..) due to lack of oxygen... I would consider that man is emergent.
So I guess the bottom line is, emergent can only make sense depending how hooked on phonics a person really is. lol
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Permalink Reply by Tony P on
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"4. occurring unexpectedly. 5. requiring immediate attention; urgent." - thanks Greenman! Those meanings aren't in my dictionary, nor did I see that meaning on Google, I didn't search deeply enough it seems.
I'm happy to agree that my original post was incorrect when I said "Not really much option is there? The answer, for most posts in this forum, is emergency." . So I've deleted that part! Not deleting all record of it though...
It does seem to make the emergent use of the word 'emergent' (such use doesn't date back far, not in my memory any way) to be valid in emergency situations. Now I'm interested in the way the word is described in your dictionary - is it a noun? An adjective? My dictionary (not as detailed as yours obviously) only gives the 'adj' version. So, 'emergent nation' means a newly emerged nation; an 'emergent situation', meaning the situation has just happened. Obviously the word can be used to describe a recent MVC (for instance). But in what tense? Can the word be used to describe the way an emergency vehicle can or is responding to such a situation? Perhaps it can, I'm not a language expert! So how does your opinion see my points Greenman?
Just in case there are people who may get upset about this thread, I'm using this thread as a learning medium. If you don't have any real viewpoint, just want to tell me I'm wrong you're right, please don't bother!
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Tony,
I'm using the Random House Webster's College Dictionary, 1992 edition.
e mer gent, adj 1. coming into view or notice. 2. rising from or as if from liquid. 3. coming into existence, esp. with political independence; emerging: an emergent nation. 4. occurring unexpectedly. 5. requiring immediate action; urgent. 6. characterized by evolutionary emergence. -n. an aquatic plant having its stem, leaves, etc. extending above the surface of the water. [Middle English 1350-1400].
The word "emergent" was born around 1350-1400 sometime, so it's been around a while now. Whereas "emergency" is a much younger word, having come into use around 1625-35. ;-)
The word "emergency" is the most appropriate to use when describing a Fire Department vehicle, using it as an adjective (required or used in an emergency), whereas "emergent" is more appropriate to describe a situation or condition, unless the Engine was exiting a tunnel, then it could be an "emergent vehicle."
BTW, I love etymology, although there are many who will always think it's a waste of time...
Greenman
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Thanks mate, to me, very interesting! I especially love your 'unless the Engine was exiting a tunnel, then it could be an "emergent vehicle."'. Well done!
As I always say, I love learning!
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Permalink Reply by Fabulous Heather Days of Summer on
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Welcome to the United States of America by which we like to change it up regularly. A few examples...
Cool and Hot are interchangeable words.
Bad and Good are interchangeable words.
Sick and Wicked are words used to describe both things that are good and things that are bad.
Nuts is a word used to describe a food item, a genital part, an expletive, and a psychiatric state of instability.
We also now put words that we consider curse words in some of our dictionaries - thus causing some schools to put dictionaries from their shelves so the kids won't see them.
So I bet lots of things are not in the dictionaries of other countries that we use here... cause face it... we are a little bit stranger than the rest of the world ;-)
AND EVERY DAY on this website I learn a few NEW words - and I live in the U.S. and was educated here - and still, some days, I have no idea what some of them are talking about in my own native language!
(p.s. when you do the internet searches, you need to scroll to the bottom of the definitions on each page for other uses... where slang might have its home)
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I have several friends on Heparin or Coumadin - blood thinners - people take to deal with problems of blood clots. When people on these medications bleed, they don't stop! In a matter of minutes they can bleed to death from a small wound.
My one friend / Paramedic / nurse - got a 3" laceration on his leg one day while doing yard work - before EMS could get to him, he had already lost a pint of blood... and he is medically trained to take care of himself.
We don't always know the who story.
No need to respond to this - your post just prompted my memory and this issue is already being highly debated on another page.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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We ( my medics) transport many "emergent" patients non emergency to the hospital. They are less than critical, but serious enough to warrant pre-hospital intervention, IE IV's, and meds, but not immediately life threatening.
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We respond "Hot" to all medical calls on the premise that if the caller believed it was an emergency and called 911, there's is no way to know the seriousness of the situation until an assessment by a trained person has been made. Once the assessment has been made, then transport will be appropriate to the patient's status.
We have had pts bleed-out from seemingly minor wounds, and no matter how many questions the dispatcher asks, the situation is still pretty unknown until the unit arrives.
Right or wrong, people don't call 911 because they're having a good day, and neither the city, nor the county, has the budget to defend against a lawsuit when someone dies while the EMS responded "Cold" because they thought it was minor or routine based on what was relayed through the dispatcher.
Greenman
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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Ok, an my two cents: perspective! What may seem to be an emergency to one may seem to be non-emergency to others. Treat them all the same.
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Permalink Reply by James Borsellino on
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When I was in high school, I had an accident that required a visit to the hospital, I didn't go in an ambulance, a teacher drove me. I had torn the tip of my left thumb off and was holding it together with my right hand, bleeding all over his floor mat. He took me to the emerg. Very calmly he walked up to the window and told the nurse i needed someone to look at my thumb. I pushed in and said I ripped my thumb off! THREE nurses came flying around the desk, grabbed me and took me into a room asap! Then had me lay down because I was going into shock! In hinde sight, I should have gone in by ambulance! one more minute I would have passed out. It could have been in the teachers truck if he had hit traffic! Or if I hadn't stuck my head in and said I ripped my thumb off I would have passed out in the waiting room!
So what I'm saying is, Handle it as what we are trained to do, an emergency! Once the call has been sized up, secures and stabilized, then make it an urgent!........lol
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I wish I'd seen this before I wrote mine! thats why you are a Chief!
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