Abstract
The past decade has witnessed the emergence and substantial growth of the specialty of emergency medicine as a truly international medical discipline that refuses to be restrained by barriers of language, culture or geography. While the formal recognition of the specialty of emergency medicine is relatively young in most countries and nonexistent in some, the provision of emergency care is as ancient as the art of medicine itself. Descriptions of emergency care are documented in the Ebers Papyrus of ancient Egypt (2600 BC) [1], in the ancient teachings of traditional Chinese [2] and Ayurvedic [3] medicine and in the earliest writings of western medical care [4]. The growth of emergency medicine globally has been spurred by a number of factors, including population growth, urbanization, globalization and increasing expectations of patients around the world who are aware of what can be done to provide for emergency care [5]. The international growth of emergency medicine has resulted in an expanding presence of emergency medicine and related topics in scientific journals. In addition, the US has recently seen substantial growth in the number of international emergency medicine fellowship programs [6], and the international section and interest groups of emergency medicine societies are typically among the largest and most active in these organizations. A recent review of international emergency medicine from 2006 noted that one of the greatest obstacles to continue the growth of international emergency medicine remains the lack of high-quality, consolidated, and easily accessible evidence-based literature in this field [7]. This review of the literature from 2006 identified 25 international emergency medicine research articles. These articles include broad categories that cover the areas of evaluating EMS and trauma care services in both developed and developing countries, the global spread of emergency medicine and ways to improve emergency care for special populations within a developing country. A large proportion of international emergency medicine studies examines the methods for evaluating morbidity and mortality and improving the delivery of humanitarian aid during disasters and conflicts. The field of international emergency medicine has several major components that have been identified. These include (1) relief and disaster medicine, (2) prehospital care systems and infrastructure, (3) health-care policy at the national, regional and local levels, (4) clinical emergency medicine including the provision of emergency care in settings of limited resources, (5) emergency medicine research and (6) emergency medicine education. All of these domains have enjoyed development and continue to grow robustly.