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Emergency Medicine Services: Why Choose Us

Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, UCI Health emergency physicians, nurse practitioners and technicians deliver expert care to critically ill patients and people with major and minor injuries and ailments at UC Irvine Medical Center, Orange County's busiest and most experienced emergency department.

Our team serves more than 39,000 patients a year, including nearly 4,500 trauma cases.

Whether you are experiencing a traumatic injury, a severe heart problem, a critical illness, a stroke or other acute neurological condition, our emergency-trained specialists are skilled at giving you life-saving treatment. We also have the region's leading experts in treating infectious diseases, drug overdoses, poisonings, severe burns and many other conditions.

Best emergency care 24/7

UC Irvine Medical Center is the best place for emergency care no matter what your condition because we are :

Orange County’s only verified Level 1 Adult and Level II Pediatric Trauma Center — This means our trauma surgery team is uniquely equipped to provide patients who have suffered traumatic injury with a full spectrum of care — 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We also have on-site CT scan and X-ray machines ready at a moment's notice to diagnose severe injuries. Our dedicated trauma resuscitation rooms are also equipped with the most advanced life-saving technology, including bedside ultrasound and airway management expertise.

Orange County’s only university medical center — This means we offer the most advanced and comprehensive care. We are able to tap vast resources, day or night. This includes a blood bank, trauma-trained neurologists, neurosurgeons, head-and-neck specialists, orthopedic surgeons and reconstructive plastic surgeons, as well as leading experts in anesthesiology, radiology and pharmacology. 

Orange County's leading cardiac receiving center — The emergency department is the entry point for our state-of-the-art cardiac catheterization labs and we have a dedicated vascular emergency response team available 24/7. The cardiac lab has two surgical suites equipped with the latest digital imaging technology to help guide interventional procedures with precision.

Orange County's leading stroke receiving center — As Orange County's first Joint-Commission-certified comprehensive stroke center, our stroke patients benefit from having our skilled team of neurological specialists on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We also have 24-hour access to a neuro-interventional radiologist who can extract a stroke-inducing blood clot and stroke specialists who can administer clot-dissolving medications.

The Regional Burn Center — We have one of the few burn centers in the nation and the only one in Orange County to be verified by the American College of Surgeons and the American Burn Association. Our burn specialists use the latest in skin substitute technology to avoid skin grafting. They also partner with the Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic for innovative non-surgical techniques to diagnose the depth of burn wounds and to treat burn scars.

Orange County's only National Cancer Institute-designed comprehensive cancer center — Because UC Irvine Medical Center is home to the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, our emergency specialists are skilled at caring for patients who may be  undergoing cancer treatment or whose condition may warrant additional diagnosis.

Leaders in diagnostic expertise — Using the latest in ultrasound technology, our physicians are able to efficiently diagnose a wide range of conditions, including acute cholecystitis, ectopic pregnancies and even aneurysms. In fact, our emergency department is the only one in California to be credentialed to perform bedside ultrasound by the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Leaders in providing the highest level of continuous emergency care — Not only do our physicians provide skilled treatment, our team of Orange County's leading emergency nurse practitioners care for patients in need of intensive monitoring in our 20-bed observation center.

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