Clinical review: Emergency department overcrowding and the potential impact on the critically ill
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* Corresponding author: Robert M Cowan cowan-robert@cooperhealth.edu
1 Chief Resident, Department of Emergency Medicine, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, New Jersey, USA
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine and the Section of Critical Care Medicine, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden, Cooper University Hospital, Camden, New Jersey, USA
Critical Care 2005, 9:291-295 doi:10.1186/cc2981
Published: 14 October 2004Abstract
Critical care constitutes a significant and growing proportion of the practice of emergency medicine. Emergency department (ED) overcrowding in the USA represents an emerging threat to patient safety and could have a significant impact on the critically ill. This review describes the causes and effects of ED overcrowding; explores the potential impact that ED overcrowding has on care of the critically ill ED patient; and identifies possible solutions, focusing on ED based critical care.