La Revue du praticien
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Emergency departments use has been constantly increasing over the world. Overcrowding is defined as a situation which compromises patient safety because of delayed cares. This situation is often reached. ⋯ Thus a good organization is essential: it doesn't always avoid overcrowding. The rest of the hospital has to be involved in this process to ensure efficiency. We examine the various interventions and procedures that can be found in medical literature for improving patients flow and management in emergency departments.
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The French emergency medicine infrastructure (structures de médecine d'urgence) ensures patients care from the very location of the distress to the appropriate hospital department: medical care in the field, by hospital clinical teams (the services mobiles d'urgence et de réanimation [SMUR]), is a key characteristic of our medical emergency response system. Response to medical distress revolves around information about not only the location and characteristics of the medical need, but also the availability of adapted hospital services. Gathering and transmitting this information is the prerogative of the service d'aide médicale d'urgence (SAMU) and its telephone dispatch center (Centre 15). ⋯ The ER is now responsible, after providing immediate first line care, to guide the patient through the care system. As such they are equipped with short term hospitalization units designed to enable up to 24h patient observation before orientation. This ensemble, networked at the level of a health territory, ensures the quality, safety, and efficacy that the population is entitled to demand.