The Management of an Emergency Department: How to Face the Challenge of Overcrowding?

Consultations and needs of care in emergency departments are increasing in all countries. Overcrowding is a situation which compromises patient safety and time for appropriate treatment. Thus, emergency departments must constantly improve their management, taking care of more patients without decreasing in the quality. Several factors explain overcrowding. If emergency department organization is not sufficient to avoid overcrowding, it is a requisite condition. In this paper, based on review, we first describe the activity evolution during the last decades and then we analyze interventions and procedures in management to improve patients flow in emergency department.