Early Years of Emergency Medicine

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How did the Emergency Medicine evolved?

Emergency medicine emerged in 1960 to 1961 however, it was only on 1979 that the American Board of Medical Specialties recognized emergency medicine as a medical specialty.

The historical events of emergency medicine was told in a film that was sponsored by Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association (EMRA).

**“24|7|365: The Evolution of Emergency Medicine”** **directed by Dave Thomas and was released in 2013.**

Reference: Thomas, D. (Director). (2013). 24|7|365: The Evolution of Emergency Medicine [Film]. Ann Prum. Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association.

The First Years of Emergency Medicine

Medical emergency began right after world war II wherein America was overcoming years of depression and conflict. As an emerging nation, people then started to get out from their roots and move to different cities where they don’t have any family connections, not even a family doctor.

As the country faces rapid changes, American medicine was evolving too. There were advancements in medicine and some family doctors are getting replaced by specialists. Specialists don’t want to take house calls and don’t want to see patients outside of office hours thus, bringing more people to hospitals, especially emergency cases.

Problems of Emergency Rooms

More patients are coming in the emergency room however, the problem during this time was hospitals were not ready.

Emergency rooms were underdeveloped; exposed pipes, dripping water, and only four little treatment rooms.

Another major problem is the staffing of medical personnel. The staffing was done by the interns so the least experienced physicians took care of the most dangerous cases.