Clinical Programs

Overview

The Section of Emergency Medicine at the University of Chicago plays a pivotal role in the emergency health care system in the city of Chicago by serving as the “medical control” for the Chicago South EMS system. Our highly skilled faculty provides comprehensive, compassionate care to patients with emergent medical and surgical problems. In addition we act as a Level 1 trauma center for injured children   and are considered a leader in the Chicago hospital system in mass casualty disaster and terrorism preparedness.  In 2018 the University of Chicago Medicine opened a new expanded emergency room and a new Level 1 Adult Trauma Center.

The Section of Emergency Medicine initiated Chicago’s only hospital based aero medical transport system in December, 1983. For over  thirty years the University of Chicago Aeromedical Network (UCAN) has provided helicopter transport of critically ill or injured neonatal, pediatric, and adult patients from the scene of an emergency or during interhospital transfer to the University of Chicago Medicine or between other hospitals. Because of our vast experience with UCAN, many of our faculty has become national experts in the areas of air medical and critical care transport. UCAN is staffed by a dedicated team of specially trained flight nurses, flight physicians, EMS pilots, and communication specialists–ready to respond to 24 hours a day, 7 days/week.