Emergency medicine in the United Arab Emirates

It has been a decade since emergency medicine was recognized as a specialty in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In this short time, emergency medicine has established itself and developed rapidly in the UAE. Large, well-equipped emergency departments (EDs) are usually located in government hospitals, some of which function as regional trauma centers. Most of the larger EDs are staffed with medically or surgically trained physicians, with board-certified emergency medicine physicians serving as consultants overseeing care. Prehospital care and emergency medical services (EMS) operate under the auspices of the police department. Standardized protocols have been established for paramedic certification, triage, and destination decisions. The majority of ambulances offer basic life support (BLS/Type 2) with a growing minority offering advanced life support (ALS/Type 3). Medicine residency programs were established 5 years ago and form the foundation for training emergency medicine specialists for UAE. This article describes the full spectrum of emergency medicine in the UAE: prehospital care, EMS, hospital-based emergency care, training in emergency medicine, and disaster preparedness. We hope that our experience, our understanding of the challenges faced by the specialty, and the anticipated future directions will be of importance to others advancing emergency medicine in their region and across the globe.