ER One

Project ER One is the federally funded initiative to develop the design concepts, features, and specifications for an all-risks ready emergency care facility, optimized to be able to provide emergency medical care during acts of terrorism and epidemics and built to function fully as a hospital emergency department during daily operations.

ER One – The Beginning

In 1999, MedStar Washington Hospital Center (WHC) launched ER One, an initiative to design and demonstrate the concepts, features and specifications for a new type of all-risks ready emergency care facility, one optimized to manage the medical consequences of terrorism and emerging illness. ER One will provide emergency medical care during a crisis situation (i.e. terrorist attacks or epidemics) and will function as the hospital’s emergency department during daily operations.

Bridge to ER One Dr. Mark Smith, Chief of Emergency Medicine at MedStar Washington Hospital Center tours the Bridge to ER One and outlines the ways ER One will curb the spread of disease.

The team at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, headed by Chief of Emergency Medicine Mark Smith, M.D., began efforts to bring together the best available ideas in emergency preparedness and emergency department design. MedStar Washington Hospital Center launched this effort because emergency facilities have not been specifically designed to deal with the full all-risks portfolio of mass casualty events.

ER One Goals and Objectives

The creation of a specialized emergency facility at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, already home to Washington’s largest trauma center, emergency department, burn center, and critical care facility, will address key needs in the region and across the nation. ER One will:

• Provide unique emergency care and response capability designed to respond to a full range of threats in the Washington area and substantially augment the response capability of the National Capital Region;
• Serve as a model and demonstration facility for other emergency centers in metropolitan areas vulnerable to mass casualty events; and
• Become a resource for emergency preparedness that will offer ongoing education and training programs nationwide).

For more information on ER One, please click on one of the following links to view a PDF file:

• Washington Hospital Center Receives $1.29 Million in Federal Funds for “ER One” - December 10, 2004
• Background & History
• Frequently Asked Questions

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