The resident ED staffing varies by time of day from a low of two residents between 04:00 and 08:00 to about eight in the late afternoon and evening. In addition to EM residents, PGY1 residents from Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology, Ob/Gyn, Surgery and Neurosurgery, and PGY3 residents from Internal Medicine rotate through the ED. Most shifts are 10 hours. One or two medical students also are usually present in the ED. An Em PGY3 makes the ED schedule for upper level residents. PGY1s work 19-20 shifts, PGY2s work 17 shifts and PGY3s work 15 shifts each 28 days.

Trauma care is provided through the collaboration of the trauma team and the emergency physicians. The trauma team is notified immediately of the arrival of any patient with unstable vital signs or penetrating trauma to the central area of the body. A PGY2 or PGY3 resident in Emergency Medicine is present in the ED 24 hours a day, and is responsible for running the major traumas during that time. When present, the trauma resident is responsible for running the traumas  with the participation of the ED residents and under the supervision of EM attendings. Patients not meeting criteria for immediate trauma consult are assessed by the ED. The trauma team is then consulted if the work-up reveals a condition requiring hospital admission or general anesthesia. Over 3,000 patients are seen in the trauma room yearly, about 600 of which are pediatric.

The Pediatric ED: The Pediatric ED is open daily from 14:00 to 02:00 and from 10:00 to 02:00 on Sundays and holidays. All urgent or critically ill pediatric patients are seen in the Peds ED during those times, including trauma. The medical director is part of the EM faculty and has a joint appointment in the department of Pediatrics. The attending staff is drawn from our Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medicine  faculty. Residents from EM, pediatrics and family practice rotate through this facility. From 14:00 to 17:00 pediatric trauma, including lacerations and critically ill children are seen in the Peds ER. Others go to pediatric clinic.

The New Mexico Regional Federal Medical Center: The VA hospital in Albuquerque is actually the New Mexico Regional Federal Medical Center (NMRFMC) which cares for both VA patients, and Air Force personnel working at the adjacent Kirtland Air Force Base, and their dependents. It is a newly completed 404 bed hospital. The ED is administered through the UNM department of Emergency Medicine. Its excellent emergency physicians participate in the training of EM residents.

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