Division of Emergency Critical Care
The Stanford Emergency Critical Care (ECC) program focuses on resuscitation, early interventions, and optimizing transitions of care for critically ill patients in the ED and throughout Stanford Hospital. The program is a collaboration between nurses and dual-trained ECC faculty physicians at Stanford who attend in both the medical-surgical ICUs.
The goal of the innovative ECC program at Stanford is to transform early interventions for the critically ill through excellence in education, scientific discovery, and patient-centered care.
CRITICAL CARE FELLOWSHIP
Two critical care fellowship pathways are available at Stanford for graduates of an EM residency: Internal Medicine-CCM and Anesthesia-CCM.
Patient Care
EMERGENCY CRITICAL CARE
ECC faculty are dual-boarded emergency intensivists who provide dedicated specialty care to critically ill patients in the ED, regardless of ICU bed availability. Learn more.
ECC faculty also serve as attending physicians in the medical-surgical ICUs at Stanford Hospital, the primary teaching services for Stanford residents and CCM fellows.
Research
EMERGENCY CRITICAL CARE
The ECC research group has published on severity of illness scores adapted for use in the emergency department, as well as the impact of ECC nurses and ECC physicians on outcomes among the critically ill.
MULTI-CENTER CLINICAL TRIALS
Stanford ECC faculty participate at the national level in multi-center clinical trials focused on early interventions in critical illness, including as part of the NIH-funded PETAL and SIREN networks.
Education
RESIDENCY
The Stanford Emergency Medicine Residency offers special preparation for a career in critical care as part of the Advanced Clinical and Career Enrichment Line (ACCEL) Program. All ECC faculty participate in mentoring EM residents interested in pursuing critical care fellowship training, and partner with residents to host “critical care day,” a half-day of hands-on teaching focused on critical care topics for all EM residents.
FELLOWSHIP
Stanford has a long tradition of multidisciplinary training in critical care - our first EM-trained fellow graduated in 1996! Today, ECC faculty are involved in all aspects of the critical care fellowships at Stanford, including as co-director of the critical care ultrasound curriculum and as assistant program director for the internal medicine-CCM fellowship.
Two pathways are available at Stanford for graduates of an EM residency: Internal Medicine-CCM and Anesthesia-CCM.
CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION
ECC faculty help lead CME efforts not only for physicians but also for nurses and respiratory therapists working in critical care. Recent CME offerings include training at ACEP and SCCM annual meetings and the Stanford Respiratory Care Symposium. Local and national courses vary from year to year.
ECC NURSES
ECC RNs are dual ED/ICU-trained nurses who are staffed 24/7 and are primarily responsible for overseeing the care of critically ill patients in the ED. As partners, ECC physicians and ECC nurses work very closely to provide exceptional care for critically ill patients in the ED. Learn more