You are providing continuing education for a group of EMTs. The topic is acute abdominal pain. What point would you stress when discussing the EMT's treatment of the patient with acute abdominal pain?

A) The EMT can provide more appropriate care for the patient if he or she is able to identify the cause of the abdominal pain.
B) It is okay to spend extended time on scene if working to identify the exact cause of the abdominal pain.
C) Patients complaining of nausea and vomiting without pain rarely have life-threatening conditions and can go to the hospital by private vehicle.
D) Definitive care for patients with abdominal pain is hospital evaluation and possible surgical intervention.

D