Portrait of rural emergency departments in Québec and utilization of the provincial emergency department management Guide: cross sectional survey

Background Rural emergency departments (EDs) constitute crucial safety nets for the 20 % of Canadians who live in rural areas. Pilot data suggests that the province of Quebec appears to provide more comprehensive access to services than do other provinces. A difference that may be attributable to provincial policy/guidelines “the provincial ED management Guide”. The aim of this study was to provide a detailed description of rural EDs in Quebec and utilization of the provincial ED management Guide.