ABSTRACT
In Germany, which is also faced with a scarcity of resources, the concept of central, interdisciplinary emergency rooms ("Zentrale Notfallaufnahme", ZNA) is being developed as an answer to the complex demands of modern emergency medicine with increasing numbers of patients and complexity of the medical conditions. This autonomous institution is the first point of contact for all emergency patients. The central tasks of the ZNA are triage and the interdisciplinary primary treatment of patients. The establishment of the ZNA includes specific facilities (treatment rooms, short stay units, resuscitation rooms, triage and management areas, integration of the premises on site) as well as specific processes (triage systems, specific standard operating procedures) and training for the staff (European Curriculum for Emergency Medicine). It could be shown that by establishing a ZNA along with all its structures the satisfaction of the patients (including shorter waiting times), resource management (intensive care capacity), and patient outcome could be significantly improved.
