The objectives of this study were to provide an overview of the emergency care system in the U.S., explore its strengths, limitations, and future challenges, describe a desired vision of the emergency care system, and recommend strategies needed to achieve that vision. In three consensus reports released in 2006, the Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System documented the state of affairs and discussed ways to improve the 9-1-1 and medical dispatch systems, prehospital emergency medical services (EMS), and hospital-based emergency and trauma care networks that serve adults and children.