Emergency medicine and surgery resident roles on the trauma team: a difference of opinion

Although many emergency medicine residency programs are located in major trauma centers, trauma often is managed by a multispecialty team. In order to define the role of the emergency medicine resident at such centers, we sent surveys to the directors of all 64 approved emergency medicine residency programs. Of the 54 programs (84%) responding, 39 (72%) had trauma teams. Trauma team composition varied widely. Only 54% included general surgery staff physicians, and 38% included an anesthesiologist. Ninety percent of the teams included an emergency medicine resident. Overall emergency medicine residents serve as trauma captains 50% of the time and share the role with a general surgery resident 23% of the time. With the exceptions of peritoneal lavage and intubation, resuscitation procedures were shared between the general surgery and emergency medicine residents. Thirty-one percent of the respondents had air ambulances, 70% of which were staffed by emergency physicians. We conclude that emergency medicine residents are active trauma team leaders and providers.