Coordination of pediatric emergencies between Primary Care and Hospital in Madrid Autonomous Community

In this article we make an overview of the Emergency Medical Care in the National Health Services and more specifically in the Community of Madrid. First of all, we define terms as Urgency, Emergency and the different types of Emergencies according to the WHO criteria. Emergency incidence and the Emergency Medical Services involved in patient care are described. In a second part a detailed description of pediatric urgent demand in Primary Care Centres is made. Its causes and the diagnosis are reviewed, comparing them with Hospital Emergency data. Special attention is paid to inappropriate demand: its incidence, the factors involved, the reasons that children caregivers adduce for urgent demand and its negative impact on medical assistance quality. With all this, we scan the main problems of the Emergency medical assistance, we outline the lack of coordination between Hospital and Primary Care Centres and we make some proposals for improvement.