The Department of Emergency Medicine has a strong commitment to creating quality emergency care in other parts of the world, and to providing our faculty, staff, residents, and students with as broad an exposure as possible to the practice of emergency medicine worldwide. Towards these goals, the Department established the International Society for Emergency Care, a non-profit group that operates as a funding vehicle for the Department's international efforts. Because the Department is committed to providing these opportunities to as many members as possible, all of the activities outlined below are fully funded through the International Society for Emergency Care for those selected to participate. Over one hundered members of the department have been able to participate in international activities to date through this program..

In March 2004 the New York University Department of Emergency Medicine co-sponsored the first annual New York Symposium on International Emergency Medicine, held at the New York University School of Medicine with over 400 attendees.

Mures County Hospital, Tirgu Mures Romania

In March 2000 a grant was received by the Department of Emergency Medicine to augment the training of emergency physicians in Tirgu Mures, a small city in Transylvania, Romania. Specifically, the grant was intended to improve emergency medicine resident education, create a Romanian poison control center, and improve public health surveillance. During the past four years, more than 75 professionals from both participating institutions have worked at the partnering site. The partnership has been both academically and educationally productive for both the American and Romanian groups, with numerous studies completed and published.

Typically, a team of two residents and one nurse or social worker travel to Tirgu Mures for four weeks to work in the Mures County Hospital emergency department. Clinical time for the residents is split between working in the department and participating in the extensive pre-hospital mobile intensive care unit program that exists in Tirgu Mures. The rotation is both culturally and clinically intense, as patient acuity in Central Transylvania is extremely high.

In addition to clinical time, American residents are expected to hold daily teaching rounds and weekly lectures, and they are required to produce two brief chapters (in English) for the first edition of the Romanian Textbook of Emergency Medicine, currently in development.

There are several areas of clinical research being pursued in Romania. To date, Bellevue/NYU residents have investigated the relationship between untreated atrial fibrillation and stroke in Romania, the demographics of the Romanian emergency population, and the presence of toxic contaminants in the locally produced alcoholic beverages.

A limited number of Romanian physicians and nurses travel to New York City to observe the functioning of the Bellevue and Tisch emergency departments, as well as to study at the New York City Poison Control Center.

Treasure Beach Emergency Response Unit (TBERU), Treasure Beach , Jamaica

In September 2001, a resident-initiated project was begun in Treasure Beach, Jamaica, an isolated fishing community on Jamaica 's southern coast. In conjunction with a local non-profit organization, the Department of Emergency Medicine has helped to create the first community-based volunteer rescue service in Jamaica . Over fifty local volunteers in Treasure Beach have been trained in first aid, CPR, and basic vehicle extrication techniques. In April 2004, the partnership obtained an ambulance for TBERU and worked to integrate the rescue service into the local medical structure. The partnership now seeks to duplicate the success of this effort in other areas of rural Jamaica where no emergency services exist at this time.

Hospital Number 25, Mexico City

Since 2002, The NYU Department of Emergency Medicine has had a cooperative program with Hospital Number 25, a busy public hospital with an emergency medicine training program in Mexico City. Typically, a team of two residents and one nurse or social worker travel to Mexico City for three weeks to work in the ED at Hospital Number 25. To date, over twenty members of our department have traveled to Mexico City to work at Hospital Number 25.

In February 2003, the two departments collaborated to create a toxicology training program for Latin American physicians at the Pan American Emergency Medicine Congress in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico .

A limited number of Mexican physicians and nurses travel to New York City to observe the functioning of the Bellevue and NYU emergency departments, as well as to study at the New York City Poison Control Center.