WASHINGTON, DC- Visits to the nation's emergency departments remain at record high levels with an average of more than 300,000 visits made to U.S. emergency departments every day in 2004, according to the latest statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).   Dr. Frederick Blum, President of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), said emergency rooms continue to be a safety net for the entire nation's health care system.

According to the CDC, visits decreased to 110.2 million annually, down from 113.9 million in 2003, although the drop was not considered statistically significant.  Visits to emergency departments have increased 18 percent between 1994 and 2004, rising from 93.4 million to 110.2 million visits annually.  In that same time period, the number of U.S. emergency departments decreased by 12.4 percent.   

"Many factors are at work creating a gridlock situation in emergency departments around the country, including fewer emergency departments, a shortage of on-call specialists, many uninsured people who have nowhere else to go for medical care, and a shortage of hospital beds to transfer our patients to once they've been admitted through the emergency department," said Dr. Blum.  "New reports from the Institute of Medicine conclude the emergency medical system itself is in crisis and time is running out to fix it." 

The statistics show one-fifth of the U.S. adult population visited an emergency room at least once in the previous 12 months.  Infants, under one year of age, accounted for 3.9 million of the nation's emergency rooms visits in 2004.  The highest number of emergency room visits was reported by the CDC in 2003, with nearly 114 million visits recorded that year.

"Numbers don't tell the whole story of course," said Dr. Blum, "but they indicate the vital nature of emergency care in this country and the necessity of keeping the system healthy. With an average of one ambulance being diverted every minute somewhere in this country because of an overcrowded emergency department, we're jeopardizing patient safety and calling into question our ability to handle a major natural or man-made medical threat."

Approximately 13 percent, or more than 14 million patients, who visited an emergency room in 2004, were admitted to the hospital for treatment. 

"It's not unusual for a patient who has been admitted to the hospital through the emergency department to spend many hours, perhaps days in some cases, 'boarded' in the emergency department waiting on a hallway gurney for a bed to open up," said Dr. Blum.  "The Institute of Medicine recommends eliminating this practice in all except the direst of circumstances, instead of the routine manner in which it happens now."

Crowded emergency department conditions are most acute in urban areas. Approximately two-thirds (65.9 percent) of all hospital emergency departments are located in metropolitan areas, according to the CDC, but these hospitals were responsible for 86 percent of the total patient visits in 2004.

ACEP is the national specialty society representing emergency medicine. With more than 23,000 members, the organization is committed to advancing emergency care through continuing education, research, and public education. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A Government Services Chapter represents emergency physicians employed by military branches and other government agencies.

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