UCSF's Callaham Sees ER Emergency

Michael Callaham, MD, division chief of emergency medicine at UCSF Medical Center was recently interviewed by KPIX Channel 5 News about a series of reports just released by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, an independent scientific group that advises the government. The reports examine the range of problems emergency rooms across the country face, and provide recommendations for health organizations and local and federal officials to fix it. The reports explain that despite the lifesaving feats performed every day by emergency departments and ambulance services, the nation's emergency medical system as a whole is overburdened, under funded, and highly fragmented. They urge the government to act quickly to fix the system.

Emergency Medical Services at the Crossroads (pdf) Hospital-Based Emergency Care (pdf)