Our nation’s emergency care system is full of cracks, and one mass disaster could cause the break that sends our nation into a major tailspin. As emergency physicians, you know the reasons it’s happening, and you want to help.

But what’s working against emergency medicine is an issue that’s common in corporate organizations today—work is being done in silos, without each organization really knowing what goals other organizations are working toward.

“What the 2006 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report recognized was that responsibility for emergency care is widely dispersed across three federal departments and numerous agencies, yet none of them is responsible for advancing emergency care,” said Art Kellermann, M.D., M.P.H., professor and associate dean for health policy at the Emory School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga.

‘for the first time, there is a focal point to coordinate federal activities on emergency care issues.’

Dr. Kellermann is a past ACEP Board member and a key member of the IOM’s Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the U.S. Health System. “There was no mechanism to bring federal officials together to ask, ‘What are the things that matter?’ and, ‘Who’s taking care of this issue?’ or even, ‘Is this issue worth considering?’” Dr. Kellermann continued.

That all changed Jan. 8, 2009, with the establishment of the Emergency Care Coordination Center (ECCC), formed in response to Homeland Security Presidential Directive #21, signed by President George W. Bush in October 2007. The ECCC serves as the principal coordination and communications hub for federal departments and agencies working on emergency care-related activities, and is designed to promote collaboration, joint strategies, and cohesive policies.

The ECCC harnesses the power of agencies previously working in silos and puts them on the same page to promote collaboration, coordination, and common goals—and gaining the much-needed attention and willing action of the federal government while doing it.

Dr. Michael Handrigan, acting director of the ECCC, sums it up simply by saying, “The ECCC is a federal home for emergency care.”

David Marcozzi, M.D., MHS-CL, former ECCC director, said the ECCC is a positive step to address the care delivered to all patients suffering emergent conditions.

“Emergency care is the link between the delivery of daily health care and the care of victims during a disaster. For the first time, there is a focal point to coordinate federal activities on emergency care issues,” he said. “In coordination with the Federal Interagency Committee of Emergency Medical Services (FICEMS), the ECCC will improve our nation’s delivery of the entire spectrum of emergency care, from the field to the hospital.”