Amended Chapter Resolution Adopted at ACEP Council

Introduced by PaACEP and authored by Past President Theodore Christopher, MD, FACEP, the Council considered a resolution to define boarding time in the nation’s emergency departments.

There was much discussion among the Councillors about a 2-hour time frame that was in the original resolution. After debate, the adopted resolution did not include a time frame. The amended resolution stated that “ACEP adopt a policy statement which officially defines the ‘boarded patient’ as one who remains in the ED after notification of the need to admit to inpatient service and ends when the patient leaves the department.”

The resolution also calls for “ACEP [to] continue its involvement with national organizations developing measurements for patient through-put.”

The ACEP Council is made up of representatives from all 53 chapters, 30 sections, and the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association. Twenty PaACEP members represented the chapter at the 2009 meeting.

Resolutions can be proposed by chapters, sections, or individual ACEP members and are deliberated during the Council’s annual meeting.

The resolutions do not become College policy until they are reviewed and approved by the ACEP Board of Directors.