Alabama Receives D+ in EM Report Card

The American College of Emergency Physicians has recently released their National Report Card on the State of Emergency Medicine. Alabama received an overall D+ with poor marks in Public Health/Injury Prevention and Access to Emergency Care. The report details many trends that emergency physicians experience on a daily basis. We lack enough primary care physicians and mental health personnel to meet our population’s needs. Additionally, they show that Alabama lacks enough emergency physicians and board-certified emergency physicians as well. On the positive side, however, Alabama was commended for our efforts in Disaster Preparedness, particularly with regards to the statewide trauma system. More can be done to improve the care of emergency patients, and we hope this report card will serve as a sounding board for our issues to our hospital and government leaders. Please read the report card for yourself to see the details.