Emergency medicine

Emergency medicine

Emergency physicians and registered nurses conducting a trauma evaluation.
Focus	Acute illness and injury
Subdivisions	Pediatric Pre-hospital
Significant diseases	Trauma Sepsis Burn Acute coronary syndrome Poisoning Stroke
Significant tests	Blood test Blood gas ECG Ultrasound Projection radiography CT scan
Specialist	Emergency physician
Glossary	Glossary of medicine

Emergency medicine is the medical specialty concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (or "ER doctors") specialize in providing care for unscheduled and undifferentiated patients of all ages. As frontline providers, in coordination with emergency medical services, they are responsible for initiating resuscitation, stabilization, and early interventions during the acute phase of a medical condition. Emergency physicians generally practice in hospital emergency departments, pre-hospital settings via emergency medical services, and intensive care units. Still, they may also work in primary care settings such as urgent care clinics.

Sub-specialties of emergency medicine include disaster medicine, medical toxicology, point-of-care ultrasonography, critical care medicine, emergency medical services, hyperbaric medicine, sports medicine, palliative care, or aerospace medicine.

Various models for emergency medicine exist internationally. In countries following the Anglo-American model, emergency medicine initially consisted of surgeons, general practitioners, and other physicians. However, in recent decades, it has become recognized as a specialty in its own right with its training programs and academic posts, and the specialty is now a popular choice among medical students and newly qualified medical practitioners. By contrast, in countries following the Franco-German model, the specialty does not exist, and emergency medical care is instead provided directly by anesthesiologists (for critical resuscitation), surgeons, specialists in internal medicine, pediatricians, cardiologists, or neurologists as appropriate.^[1] Emergency medicine is still evolving in developing countries, and international emergency medicine programs offer hope of improving primary emergency care where resources are limited.^[2]