Crisis in the Emergency Department

TLDR

The United States faces a growing crisis in emergency care, highlighted by the rapid response to the 1996 Atlanta bombing and the escalating sophistication of terrorist attacks. Grady Memorial Hospital’s coordinated emergency response to the 1996 bombing restored normal operations by 7 a.m., illustrating the effectiveness of its ambulance, physician, and surgeon teams. Download link provided at 2 a.m.

Abstract

Interview with Arthur Kellermann on the crisis in emergency care in the United States. (08:41)Download At 2 a.m. on July 27, 1996, I stood in the ambulance bay of Grady Memorial Hospital, awaiting the first of 35 severely injured bombing victims who would be brought to Grady from Atlanta's Olympic Park over the next 2 hours. Although it was a harrowing experience for all involved, the response of Grady's ambulance service, emergency physicians, and trauma surgeons was so efficient that the hospital had returned to normal operations by 7 a.m.Much has changed in the decade since the Atlanta bombing. The power and sophistication of terrorist bombings have increased dramatically, but America's emergency and trauma . . .