Americans assume they will receive lifesaving emergency care when and where they need it, but increasingly that isn't the case.

Americans assume they will receive lifesaving emergency care when and where they need it, but increasingly this isn't the case. Emergency departments are full, beds are full, hallways are full, resources are stretched to breaking points and ambulances are being diverted away.

Americans assume they will receive lifesaving emergency care when and where they need it, but increasingly that isn't the case.

Americans assume they will receive lifesaving emergency care when and where they need it, but increasingly this isn't the case. Our report found the nation's support for emergency medical care is mediocre or worse. Most Americans would not accept mediocre treatment or mediocre medicines; they also should not accept mediocre support of an emergency medical system that they expect to be of the highest quality when their lives hang in the balance. In a nation that has prided itself on providing the highest-quality medical care in the world, anything less than an A is unacceptable.

We are concerned that the push to measure quality will become just a smoke screen to cut costs and to reduce the resources devoted to health care.

A lot of people take emergency care for granted. At a time when emergency- department visits are going through the roof, the number of emergency departments has declined because hospitals have found it's more economically attractive to close the emergency department than to keep it open and lose money.