Emergency physician

Emergency physician

Emergency physician's vehicle operated by Copenhagen Fire Brigade.
Occupation
Names	Physician, Medical Specialist
Occupation type	Specialty
Activity sectors	Medicine
Description
Education required	Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine

An emergency physician is a physician who works at an emergency department to care for acutely ill patients. The emergency physician is a specialist in advanced cardiac life support (advanced life support in Europe), trauma care such as fractures and soft tissue injuries, and management of other life-threatening situations.

In some European countries (e.g. Germany, Belgium, Poland, Austria and Denmark), emergency physicians/anaesthetists^[1] are also part of the emergency medical service and are dispatched together with EMTs and paramedics in cases of potentially life-threatening situations for patients (heart attacks, serious accidents, resuscitations or unconsciousness, strokes, drug overdoses, etc.). In the United States, emergency physicians are mostly hospital-based, but they often work on air ambulances and mobile intensive-care units.

When a patient is brought into the emergency department, he or she is usually sent to triage first. The patient may be triaged by an emergency physician, a paramedic, or a nurse; in the United States, triage is usually performed by a registered nurse. If the patient is admitted to the hospital, another physician such as a cardiologist or neurologist takes over from the emergency physician.

See also

• Ambulance
• Emergency department
• Emergency medical services
• Emergency medicine
• Fellow of American College of Emergency Physicians - professional certification for emergency physicians
• Primary care physician

References

1. "Training". Ibtphem.org.uk. Retrieved 2014-04-11.

• American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians
• American Osteopathic Board of Emergency Physicians
• Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians

http://www.ibtphem.org.uk/IBTPHEM/Training.html