Even as it was being built, The Johns Hopkins Hospital’s first case was an emergency. In the summer of 1879, the hospital’s foreman of bricklayers, John K. Bruff, fell from a ladder in the Kitchen Building and plummeted 30 feet into the cellar, breaking his right leg below the knee.
Because the hospital was still under construction, he spent the next two months convalescing in a building where temporary floors were put down and a room was furnished for him.
Many more broken legs—and countless other emergencies—have since been treated in The Johns Hopkins Hospital, from the days of the original two-bed “accident room” in the early 20th century to today’s ultramodern 73-bed emergency facility. In addition to six trauma care rooms equipped with the latest medical technologies, there are 67 private examination rooms consisting of 16 urgent care rooms, 26 acute care rooms, 17 observation rooms and eight psychiatric beds, plus an expanded radiology suite with X-ray, MRI and ultrasound.
And that is just at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Now marking it’s 40th year, the Emergency Department is extraordinarily busy, not only on Orleans Street, but also at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and Howard County General Hospital. All three are managed by the department and handle nearly 200,000 patient visits a year combined. In the national capital region, Suburban Hospital and Sibley Memorial Hospital—which are managed locally but are part of the department’s Emergency Medicine Operations Group—together handle more than 80,000 patient visits annually. All told, the Emergency Department at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and four of its member hospitals treat more than 280,000 patient visits a year.
Those numbers reflect only a portion of the Emergency Department’s enduring influence on Johns Hopkins Medicine since its creation four decades ago—and, indeed, on medicine across the country and around the world.
During the past 40 years—and even before—Johns Hopkins physicians have been instrumental in developing the specialty of emergency medicine, from helping to devise equipment standards for ambulances and training for ambulance crews to creating cardiopulmonary resuscitation—an achievement that has saved an untold number of lives.
Today’s department is also a powerful force within the expanding world of emergency medicine. Along with its traditional divisions devoted to education, clinical care and research, it is also advancing the field of tactical emergency medicine. Its global emergency services division is leading the integration of the department with various international medical operations and Johns Hopkins Medicine International. Another special asset is the Johns Hopkins Lifeline Transportation Program. Founded in 1992 as one of the first hospital-based critical care transport programs, Lifeline handled some 50,000 transports last year.
The Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response, or CEPAR, is a unique operations and academic entity that is part of the department. Created after the 9/11 tragedies, it is responsible for the preparedness of all of Johns Hopkins, including the entire university and health system. Disaster-planning computer programs and procedures developed by CEPAR have been circulated nationwide.
The Emergency Department also heads the Homeland Security Center of Excellence, a national consortium of institutions funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This center is developing the means for preparing the nation for and responding to potential large-scale disasters.
Building on its remarkable track record, the department is poised for future success. We look forward to celebrating the accomplishments of the next 40 years—and beyond.