The emergency physician specializes in advanced cardiac life support (advanced life support in Europe), resuscitation, trauma care such as fractures and soft tissue injuries, and management of other life-threatening situations.

They are dispatched together with emergency medical technicians and paramedics in cases of potentially life-threatening situations for patients (heart attacks, serious accidents, resuscitations or unconsciousness, strokes, drug overdoses, etc.).

The standard training route of emergency physicians in the United States is four years of college, four years of an approved medical school, and then a three- or four-year residency in emergency medicine.

The emergency physician is expected to oversee their care, rule out life-threatening diseases, stabilize the patient if necessary, and decide if the patient needs to be admitted to the hospital for further care or discharged home to follow up as an outpatient.

[5] Emergency physicians work with a large number of other professionals, including physician assistants/nurse practitioners, registered nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, medical technicians, medical scribes, and more.