About Us

It’s likely that you’ll find yourself in a hospital emergency department at some point. More than one in three people in the US visit the emergency department each year, for a total of more than 145 million visits annually. By oath and by law, emergency physicians will treat anyone who visits an emergency department, regardless of their ability to pay.

Emergency physicians are medical professionals who are dedicated to saving lives and providing the highest quality of care to all their patients. These physicians are uniquely trained and certified to use their expertise and judgment to help people in some of their most harrowing moments.

Open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, the emergency department (ED) is the foundation of America’s health care safety net—ensuring everyone has access to the care they need, when they need it.

Through continuing education, research, public education and advocacy, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) advances emergency care on behalf of its 40,000 emergency physician members, and the more than 150 million people they treat on an annual basis.