Geriatric emergency medicine and the 2006 Institute of Medicine reports from the Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the U.S. health system.
Three recently published Institute of Medicine reports, Hospital-Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point, Emergency Medical Services: At the Crossroads, and Emergency Care for Children: Growing Pains, examined the current state of emergency care in the United States. They concluded that the emergency medicine system as a whole is overburdened, underfunded, and highly fragmented. These reports did not specifically discuss the effect the aging population has on emergency care now and in the future and did not discuss special needs of older patients. This report focuses on the emergency care of older patients, with the intent to provide information that will help shape discussions on this issue.
Wilber
Scott T
ST
Summa Health System, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Akron, OH, USA. wilbers@summa-health.org
Gerson
Lowell W
LW
Terrell
Kevin M
KM
Carpenter
Christopher R
CR
Shah
Manish N
MN
Heard
Kennon
K
Hwang
Ula
U
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004189:Disaster Planning; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000639:trends*; D006291:Health Policy / Q000639:trends*; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D015969:National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, U.S., Health and Medicine Division; D011157:Population Dynamics; D014481:United States