Toward Assessing Outcomes of Emergency Care, , ,

Establishing the efficacy of emergency care for patients—what should or should not be done in the emergency department—requires patients to come to an ED under close-to-ideal situations, and on leaving the ED to be treated under ideal circumstances. Randomized, controlled clinical trials are needed to answer the efficacy question. [Brook R: Toward assessing outcomes of emergency care. Ann Emerg Med March 1998;31:299-300.]