ABSTRACT
This chapter is meant to serve as an introduction to the field of emergency department (ED) palliative care. Models of providing palliative care in the ED are identified as well as identifying ED patients that may best be served by a palliative medicine consultant in the ED. Palliative care providers increasingly have begun to view the ED as a place to begin to provide palliative care for patients with serious illness in addition to other units in the hospital, just as the ED is beginning to assess how palliative care is best incorporated into the environment. Part of the challenge of integrating palliative care into the ED has been lack of formal education in palliative care principles. The first step in identifying who might be appropriate for palliative care in the ED begins with identifying patients who are in need. The recognition of an end-of-life trajectory in patients allows for palliative care needs to be assessed and addressed earlier.
