Table 2.
Number of on-duty emergency department (ED) physicians and their specialtiesa
| Item | N (%) |
|---|---|
| Number of on-duty ED physicians | 317b |
| A. Day time | |
| a) One | 75 (23.7) |
| b) Two or more | 242 (76.3) |
| B. Overnight | |
| a) One | 142 (44.8) |
| b) Two or more | 175 (55.2) |
| c) In-house back-up coveragec always available | 220 (69.4) |
| Board certification of ED physiciansd | N = 3697 |
| a) Emergency medicine | 1223 (33.1) |
| b) General surgery | 726 (19.6) |
| c) Cardiovascular medicine | 350 (9.5) |
| d) Orthopedics | 328 (8.9) |
| e) Anesthesiology | 322 (8.7) |
| f) Intensive care | 313 (8.5) |
| g) Cranial surgery | 266 (7.2) |
| h) Pediatrics | 202 (5.5) |
| i) Respiratory medicine | 126 (3.4) |
| j) Renal medicine | 88 (2.4) |
| k) Cardiovascular surgery | 78 (2.1) |
| l) Other board certification | 579 (15.7) |
aBased on the replies of 324 of the 530 EDs queried
bThere were seven missing replies
cTwo or more ED physicians are always on duty or in-house experienced back-up coverage (anesthesiology or intensive care medicine) is usually available overnight
dPhysicians may have more than one board certification