The current state of hospital-based emergency medicine in Germany

Abstract

Germany has a long tradition of having physicians, often anesthesiologists with additional training in emergency medicine, deliver prehospital emergency care. Hospital-based emergency medicine in Germany also differs significantly from the Anglo-American model, and until recently having separate emergency rooms for different departments was the norm. In the past decade, many hospitals have created "centralized emergency departments" [Zentrale Notaufnahme (ZNAs)]. There is ongoing debate about the training and certification of physicians working in the ZNAs and whether Germany will adopt a specialty board certification for emergency medicine.

Fig. 1

Map of Germany, population 82,369,522 (July 2008 est.), main language spoken German. Map and information from Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html)