In countries following the Anglo-American model, emergency medicine initially consisted of surgeons, general practitioners, and other generalist physicians. Various models for emergency medicine exist internationally. Sub-specializations of emergency medicine include disaster medicine, medical toxicology, point-of-care ultrasonography, critical care medicine, emergency medical services, hyperbaric medicine, sports medicine, palliative care, or aerospace medicine.
Still, they may also work in primary care settings such as urgent care clinics.
Emergency physicians generally practise in hospital emergency departments, pre-hospital settings via emergency medical services, and intensive care units. As first-line providers, in coordination with Emergency Medical Services, they are primarily responsible for initiating resuscitation and stabilization and performing the initial investigations and interventions necessary to diagnose and treat illnesses or injuries in the acute phase. Emergency physicians (often called “ER doctors” in the United States) continuously learn to care for unscheduled and undifferentiated patients of all ages. Emergency medicine is the medical speciality concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention.