The Adult Emergency Department of Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol is part of the Territorial Clinical Directorate for urgent care. The department provides immediate healthcare to people presenting with acute or decompensated chronic conditions that require urgent or emergency medical attention. The service operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In the “How does A&E work?” section, you can find practical information and an explanatory video. 

The service is a referral centre for the Barcelonès Nord and Maresme areas and also attends patients from other regions in cases requiring highly specialised care, typical of a tertiary care centre. With a high level of clinical activity and a constant commitment to quality improvement, the Adults' A&E department at Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol aims to provide prompt, safe and compassionate care, always placing the patient at the centre of its healthcare provision.

The mission of the department, in line with that of the Hospital, is to provide comprehensive, high-quality healthcare in response to the urgent care needs of adult patients, based on their severity, ensuring an appropriate diagnostic direction and treatment with an approach based on clinical prioritisation, patient safety and hospital resources. Furthermore, the SU carries out teaching and research activities aimed at improving clinical practice.

It is organised into different functional areas: triage, low-complexity consultations, critical care cubicles, an observation area and specific areas according to the type of pathology. This organisation allows for the management of cases ranging from minor to life-threatening situations, ensuring a rapid and efficient response for every patient.

The service's multidisciplinary team collaborates continuously with other hospital departments, such as Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Neurology, General Surgery, and Psychiatry, among others.

The Territorial Clinical Directorate for urgent care allows for efficient coordination between the Emergency Department at Germans Trias and the rest of the devices in the territory (Primary Care Urgent Centres, Primary Care, Emergency Medical Services and other hospitals), ensuring continuous, coordinated and safe care for patients.

The Emergency Department also has a teaching and research component, being part of the university network linked to the Faculty of Medicine at UAB. It hosts resident doctors and nurses and collaborates in the practical training of undergraduate students. In addition, it participates in research projects related to healthcare organisation, clinical safety, flow management and the care of chronic conditions.

► You can view the urgent care pathway information in this document.

Highlights from the Emergency Department at Germans Trias Hospital 

• Germans Trias Hospital performs, for the first time in Europe, emergency robotic surgery with immersive remote supervision
• The Emergency Department launches Advanced Nursing Triage
• Patient satisfaction grows among those hospitalised or treated in the Emergency Department of Germans Trias Hospital 

• Stroke Code: Germans Trias is the regional referral centre for stroke care. It coordinates the pre-hospital and in-hospital pathway, offering treatments such as intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular therapy. In addition, it provides telestroke support to other hospitals, facilitating the rapid initiation of treatment outside the neurologist's on-site hours.
• Heart Attack Code: Germans Trias has protocols for the urgent care of acute myocardial infarction, including a dedicated haemodynamics laboratory for emergency catheterisations.
• Polytrauma Code: As a tertiary centre, the hospital is prepared to treat patients with severe polytrauma, offering multidisciplinary care and advanced resources for managing such cases.
• Sepsis Code: An urgent action protocol activated when signs of a serious infection that could endanger the patient's life are detected. It enables a rapid and coordinated response from healthcare professionals to initiate diagnosis and treatment immediately, with the aim of reducing complications, improving prognosis and saving lives.

The Adult Emergency Department of Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital maintains a well-established scientific output in the field of hospital emergency medicine, with a clear commitment to applied research, early disease detection and the continuous improvement of care processes.

During 2024–2025, the service has led and participated in several multicentre studies, among which the VIHgila study stands out, aimed at detecting occult HIV in the emergency department. This project, which includes an analysis of gender bias in the ordering of serological tests, is in the process of publishing its results.

Also notable is the renewal of the FOCUS (Gilead) grant for the systematic detection of HIV and HCV, with an upcoming expansion to VHB.

Currently, the department is leading a study on the creation of a step-down unit within the emergency department and is participating in a randomised clinical trial on the impact of the ‘1-hour sepsis bundle’ on in-hospital mortality, which is pending publication.

By 2025, the Emergency Department professionals will have published 5 international articles in indexed journals, presented more than 20 scientific papers at national congresses (SEMES, SoCMUE), and two doctoral theses will be in progress.

This commitment to research also translates into continuing professional development and knowledge transfer, with a prominent role in the innovation of clinical pathways (such as those for chest pain or reverse referral) and in early detection projects with a public health impact.

Undergraduate teaching

The Emergency Department is actively involved in the training of undergraduate Medicine students from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), providing both theoretical and practical teaching on modules related to emergency care.

• Elective credits: This consists of a rotation through the Emergency Department as an elective activity. It is a primarily practical rotation through the different sections of the department, under the supervision of a medical team that includes at least one consultant or a senior registrar.
• Emergency Medicine Module: This is an elective module, taught in the sixth year. It is a semester-long course and its main objectives are to familiarise students with the different care settings in urgent care (out-of-hospital and in-hospital) and to achieve the ability to act quickly, methodically and effectively in various emergency situations.

Postgraduate teaching

The Adult Emergency Department offers structured and cross-cutting postgraduate training, aimed at residents from multiple medical and surgical specialities. The department hosts residents from General Practice, Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Geriatrics, Neurology, Anaesthesiology and other specialities, offering a real immersion in the urgent care of a tertiary care hospital.

One of the most notable teaching initiatives is the course ‘Update on Urgent Hospital Care’, aimed at first-year residents (R1). This course aims to facilitate their integration into the department, providing practical tools and consistent guidelines for managing the most common urgent syndromes, thereby improving clinical safety and enhancing teamwork. The methodology combines theoretical-practical sessions with workshops and communication skills training.

The service also makes available to residents the Urgent Manual of Hospital Germans Trias, developed by the medical team in collaboration with specialists from other hospital departments. This practical and accessible tool compiles up-to-date protocols, clinical guidelines and decision-making algorithms for the management of urgent conditions, and has become a reference for healthcare professionals in training.

► Information for residents 

• Accredited places: The approval of the Emergency Medicine specialty, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on Wednesday 3 July 2024, in accordance with Royal Decree 610/2024, represents a historic milestone. In 2026, the Emergency Department will, for the first time, welcome a resident from the Emergency Medicine specialty. This represents a significant step in consolidating the service as a teaching environment and entails the need to develop and implement the specific training plan for first-year residents, in accordance with the criteria and competencies established by the specialty.
• Furthermore, the department currently offers rotation places for residents from various specialities, with the number varying by year.
• Post-residency recruitment: A significant proportion of the residents who have rotated through the department have subsequently been employed in the hospital's care provision.
• Shifts and rotations: Integrated from the first year, with direct supervision and access to training in specific areas such as clinical ultrasound and critical care management.
• Consult the teaching guide (available soon).

Continuing Education

The Adult Emergency Department of the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital has a strong commitment to the continuing education of its professionals. This training is key to ensuring safe, up-to-date care that is aligned with the service's real needs, in an increasingly complex and specialised environment.

The training programme is designed to meet the needs of both new staff joining the department and those of established teams. It includes training in technical skills, clinical knowledge, care pathways and transferable skills such as communication and interdisciplinary teamwork.

One of the service's main methodological lines is clinical simulation, integrated into the teaching plan as a fundamental tool for safe practice. Through theoretical sessions, digital content and realistic simulation scenarios, professionals can practise critical situations and reinforce decision-making in high-pressure contexts.

Continuing professional development also includes specific activities in areas such as bedside clinical ultrasound, critical patient management, non-invasive ventilation, and the management of complex geriatric cases. This training is periodically reviewed and updated to adapt to scientific advances and the evolving needs of patient care.

This commitment to teaching not only contributes to improving the quality of care, but also fosters a safe, cohesive and motivating working environment for the service's medical and nursing teams.