Since 1991, MedUni Vienna’s Department of Emergency Medicine has been the point of contact for Viennese rescue organizations and for the population of Vienna in the event of medical emergencies. The doctors in A&E and consultant doctors from many different specialisms provide round-the-clock care to walk-in patients or those brought to hospital by the emergency services.
Great demands are placed on the department's team, who are required to recognize potentially life-threatening illnesses, make quick diagnoses and provide immediate treatment. The Department's aims are to rapidly restore subjective well-being, shorten the duration of patients' illnesses, as well as the number of workdays they lose due to illness.
In terms of research, the emphasis is on resuscitation, the treatment and complications of heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms. Teaching is another key element: every year medical students are taught the basic principles of emergency medicine in a series of lectures and practicals.