Emergency Medicine Patient Care

doctor performing an ultrasound on a patient

Providing Urgent & Emergency Care

The highest quality of patient care is our standard.

Our Goals

  • Provide the highest quality emergency medical care to all patients presenting to the Emergency Department
  • Provide timely services to patients with urgent or emergency conditions
  • Provide cost-efficient medical care
  • Be the leader in customer service for patients and families
  • Provide consultation within U-M Health and the medical community on patient diagnosis and strategy for patient care

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Adult Emergency: Patient Guide

Check out additional information and resources for adult patients.

Children's Emergency: Patient Guide

Check out additional information and resources for children and young adults.

Service Areas

Adult Emergency Services

The mission of the Emergency Department is to provide the highest quality and timely care to patients presenting for emergency treatment; to offer outstanding educational opportunities for medical, nursing, and allied health personnel; and to further medical knowledge through the pursuit of research.

We will provide an environment that promotes compassion and respect for our patients and families and each other; that employs the highest ethical standards; and that utilizes resources in an efficient manner.

As member of the U-M Health Emergency Team, we are committed to:

  • Respecting the dignity and privacy of patient, families and co-workers
  • Recognizing and acting on opportunities to improve our services
  • Being the leader in customer service for patients and families
  • Easing access to acute health care through referrals, educational support & information
  • Ensuring excellence in emergency service by providing quality cost effective emergency care
  • Providing timely services to patients with urgent or emergency conditions
  • Maintaining a leadership role in the delivery of emergency health services
Children's Emergency Services

The Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine consists of faculty members, at the Children’s Emergency Services at University of Michigan Hospital and at the U-M Medical School Pediatric Emergency Department at the Hurley Medical Center in Flint. Between these two campuses, the Division cares for more than 40,000 sick and injured children. Faculty members are board certified in pediatric emergency medicine and some are also boarded in general emergency medicine as well.

We are a Level I Pediatric Trauma Center, a national center for Pediatric Emergency Medicine Research, and host to a Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellowship program.

Emergency Critical Care Center
EC3

The Emergency Critical Care Center (EC3) is part of Michigan Medicine and was created to improve access to timely critical care by enhancing the capacity and capability to deliver high quality critical care in the Adult Emergency Department.

Why is this Important?

Critical illness and injury, when considered as a single entity, is the leading cause of death in the United States. It has become a national burden to Emergency Departments around the country at an alarming rate. This growth is expected to continue due to an aging population with increased comorbidities and complications of advanced medicine.

Goal

The goal of the EC3 is to support the Michigan Medicine Strategic Plan, establish multidisciplinary patient care protocols for critical care that ensures seamless transition from the emergency department to the inpatient intensive care units, and by enhancing the capacity and capability to deliver high quality emergency critical care by creating a dedicated Emergency Critical Care unit with the emergency department.

The EC3 will provide the ideal setting to provide contemporary critical care to our sickest patients, perform cutting-edge research through the Weil Institute for Critical Care Research & Innovation and train future leaders in our Emergency Critical Care fellowship program.

Education

EC3 provides an opportunity to learn the interface between critical care and emergency medicine. Not currently taking rotators -- please check back later.

Survival Flight
Mark Lowell

Mark J. Lowell, MD, Survival Flight Director

  • Safety
  • Respect
  • Premier Clinical Expertise
  • Outstanding Customer Service
  • Commitment to Academic Excellence

The Department of Emergency Medicine provides medical direction for SURVIVAL FLIGHT, the critical care transport program of the Michigan Medicine. Flights are completed by a team of highly experienced flight nurses (who are dually licensed as paramedics) and Emergency Medicine residents and fellows. The combination of a skilled flight team and large, state-of-the-art aircraft enables Survival Flight to deliver university-level care at the bedside and in the air safely and efficiently.

Survival Flight teams are nationally recognized for their skills and expertise.

Hurley Medical Center

Since 1995, the U-M Department of Emergency Medicine has provided faculty staffing for the emergency department at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, MI. Hurley is also a key training site for our residency and fellowship programs.

Aerial view of University of Michigan Health hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
State of the Art

Emergency & Trauma at U-M Health

Our nationally-recognized facilities are equipped to handle all urgent and emergency problems including brain injury, stroke, heart attack/chest pains, burns and poisoning. Explore treatment options that are right for you.

Emergency Trauma Services

Featured News & Stories

See all news
Patient on stretcher taking the elevator with a lot of physicians around
Department News

The Long Road to Emergency Medicine: How Michigan Built a New Specialty

The University of Michigan’s path to establishing emergency medicine as an independent department took decades of persistence and innovation. In the 1970s, Emergency Services operated from a small fourth-floor space, staffed by physicians rotating from other specialties. Richard Burney, MD, and James Mackenzie, MD, were among the early leaders who pushed for emergency medicine to be recognized as a distinct academic discipline. Their efforts helped transform emergency care at Michigan, including the launch of Survival Flight in 1983. The program continued to grow as emergency medicine gained national recognition as a specialty. In 1992, William Barsan, MD, was recruited to lead Emergency Medicine within the Department of Surgery. He expanded the residency, research program and faculty with the goal of establishing an independent department. That goal was realized in 1999, when the University of Michigan officially created the Department of Emergency Medicine, laying the foundation for the nationally recognized program it is today.
Emergency boarding patient in a hallway gurney
Health Lab

Waiting for a bed, but not for care: ED boarding study finds wide variation in handoffs

As the emergency room boarding crisis continues, researchers examine how long admitted patients wait to be seen by an inpatient team even while they wait for an inpatient bed.
Sue, Elaine and Brian stand in front of a Survival Flight helicopter
Department News

Miracle Man: Saved in a High-Risk Winter Flight, 24 Years Later, a Family Still Gives Thanks

In February 2002, Brian Campbell suffered a heart attack and became critically ill at a Kalamazoo hospital. With his condition rapidly worsening, a University of Michigan Survival Flight team was called to transport him to Ann Arbor for advanced care. Flight nurse Elaine Philipson and her partner worked through subzero temperatures and deep snow to safely prepare Brian for the flight, overcoming several challenges along the way. Brian spent two weeks hospitalized at U-M and later suffered a stroke, but survived. Philipson continued checking on Brian and his wife, Sue, even after the transport was complete—an act of compassion the couple never forgot. Twenty-four years later, Brian continues moving forward despite ongoing challenges. Each year on the anniversary of his flight, the Campbells contact Philipson to express their gratitude, a lasting reminder of the profound impact healthcare teams can have on patients and families long after an emergency ends.
hospital bed yellow navy grainy
Health Lab

Trial focuses on duration of therapeutic hypothermia for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests

U-M researchers led the ICECAP trial, the largest U.S. study of therapeutic hypothermia after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, finding longer cooling offered no benefit.
Health Lab Podcast in brackets with a background with a dark blue translucent layers over cells
Health Lab Podcast

Cyclospora: What to Know About the Parasite Sweeping the Nation

Key tips for getting through an outbreak if you or your loved ones get sick.
e-bike handles on road close up
Health Lab

E-bikes are faster than ever. Are families prepared for the risks?

As e-bikes and e-scooters grow in popularity, Michigan Medicine experts are warning families that many riders and parents may not fully understand the speeds these devices can reach or the injuries that can follow when things go wrong.