Comparison

Emergency Central vs Bedside EM

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Emergency Central

This comprehensive medical app provides emergency medicine professionals with instant access to disease information, diagnosis tools, and treatment protocols. It integrates drug guides, diagnostic test references, and a PubMed search to support clinical decision-making.

Highlights
  • Disease and diagnosis information
  • Step-by-step treatment resources
  • Drug dosing and interaction guide
  • Diagnostic test interpretation
  • PubMed database access
  • Clinical calculators
  • Bookmark favorites
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

** Unbound Medicine’s All-In-One Mobile Solution for Emergency Medicine Professionals** ABOUT EMERGENCY CENTRAL Emergency Central is the complete mobile solution for emergency medicine professionals. Disease, diagnosis, and step-by-step treatment resources are integrated to link you to immediate answers. Identify possible diagnoses based on presenting symptoms, review details of specific conditions, determine the ideal diagnostic test sequence, and easily link to the drug guide for dosing information. Emergency Central includes: 5-MINUTE EMERGENCY MEDICINE CONSULT The latest edition of the 5-Minute Emergency Medicine Consult puts over 600 medical conditions encountered in emergency situations at your fingertips. Each entry is presented in a proven, rapid-access format so you can quickly search medical conditions, confirm a diagnosis, and begin treatment. McGraw-Hill Medical's DIAGNOSAURUS DDx Access over 1,000 quick-reference diagnoses in this valuable reference. Access entries by disease, symptom, or organ system. DAVIS’S DRUG GUIDE Refer to need-to-know information on dosing, contraindications, drug interactions, and patient education for more than 5,000 medications. Updated regularly to ensure you always have new FDA approvals and the latest drug changes. POCKET GUIDE TO DIAGNOSTIC TESTS Pocket Guide to Diagnostics Tests provides quick-access, evidence-based information on the selection and interpretation of common diagnostic tests with more than 350 laboratory, imaging, and microbiology tests. Prime PubMed Search Connect to the full PubMed database. Stay up to date with your favorite medical journals, perform powerful searches, link directly to the publisher’s full text, and share articles via email or social media. Visually explore the literature using Grapherence®, a unique way to find related and relevant articles. FEATURES • Receive 1-year of drug updates • Download any new editions of included resources free for 1-year • Make quick calculations with integrated clinical, conversion, dosage, and IV calculators • Jump quickly between resources using Cross Links • Access to the full PubMed database • Use the Full Text Search to help find terms across all indexes • Bookmark important entries with “Favorites” • Get access to Emergency Central website for one year DRUG AND CONTENT UPDATE RENEWAL • After initial Emergency Central purchase you will receive updates for one year • After one year, you can purchase updates for an additional year, at the discounted rate of $99.99. If you do not choose to purchase, you can continue to use the product but will not receive updates. • If you purchase updates, they will automatically renew annually at the renewal rate ($99.99) and charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase, unless auto-renew is turned off 24 hours prior to the conclusion of the one-year subscription period. • Account will be charged ($99.99) for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the yearly subscription term. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Unbound Privacy Policy: www.unboundmedicine.com/privacy Unbound Terms of Use: https://www.unboundmedicine.com/end_user_license_agreement

About

Bedside EM

This comprehensive medical reference app provides evidence-based, peer-reviewed information for emergency medicine providers and those caring for acutely ill patients. It features a searchable, offline database with continuously updated content and a user-friendly interface.

Highlights
  • Offline access
  • Searchable database
  • Evidence-based content
  • Peer-reviewed updates
  • Pediatric tape
  • Clinical decision rules
Features
Read full description

START YOUR 30 DAY FREE TRIAL TODAY! Bedside EM (formerly ERres) is the ORIGINAL emergency medicine app designed for where you need it the most.. at the bedside! First released in 2011, Bedside EM has been consistently ranked as one of the best medical apps worldwide! Continuously updated, evidence-based and peer reviewed!! The entire app is searchable and available offline!! And although Bedside EM was created with emergency medicine providers in mind, it has proven to be a great resource for ANYONE who takes care of acutely ill patients including other doctors, PAs/NPs, nurses, paramedics, EMTs, and students!! Starting in 2024 I have decided to go ALL IN to ensure Bedside EM continues to be the best emergency medicine app out there. This began with a complete overhaul of the app from the ground up to improve user experience. Some things were added, some things were removed. Many more additions will be coming later in the year. I hope you like it! I am now in the process of updating the styling for EVERY section within Bedside EM to align with the new layout and support dynamic text and dark mode. This is a very time-consuming process. Thus far I have updated the “pediatric tape” and all of the clinical decision rules, as these tend to be quite popular. The other sections will all be updated over the next few months. Once that is completed, the plan is to go back and UPDATE EVERY SECTION with the latest evidence-based medicine recommendations before then adding some brand new stuff. Exciting times!!! FREE 30 DAY TRIAL! To make the above possible/sustainable, a paid subscription is required to use this app starting 2024. All prior users will be granted lifetime access for free. App Subscription Options: ∙ Yearly (annual auto-renewable subscription) The subscription period will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. To turn this function off, simply go to your iTunes account and turn off auto-renew. Renewal payments will differ depending on subscription and pricing at the time of renewal. Your iTunes account will be charged when the purchase is confirmed. Terms and Conditions: https://www.darkmedicalapps.com/terms-and-conditions Privacy Policy: https://www.darkmedicalapps.com/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Emergency Central4 screens
Bedside EM4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Emergency Central at 4.8 against Bedside EM's 4.2. Emergency Central also leads on monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and chart position (#197 vs unranked). Bedside EM's advantage is review sentiment (85% vs 63%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Emergency Central sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $99.99 per year and Bedside EM sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Emergency Central holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 55 and 60 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 63% of Emergency Central's written reviews are positive against 85% of Bedside EM's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Emergency Central ships an update every 9 months, Bedside EM every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Emergency Central versus Bedside EM: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmergency CentralBedside EM
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (55 ratings) — better4.2 (60 ratings)
Positive reviews62.5% of reviews85.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5560 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 5 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#197 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.4
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB39 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperUnbound Medicine, Inc.Dark Medical Apps LLC

Customer experience

Emergency Central

All ratings55 ratings
Positive94.5%
Neutral3.6%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative25.0%

Bedside EM

All ratings60 ratings
Positive81.7%
Neutral3.3%
Negative15.0%
Written reviews80 reviews
Positive85.0%
Neutral2.5%
Negative12.5%

Bugs and requests

Emergency Central

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Bedside EM

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Lost notes and bookmarks since update
  • Categories reorganized and hard to find
  • Temporarily lost access after rebranding
  • EKG illustrations covered by back task bar

Requested features

10 requests
  • Update privacy label
  • Add settings button to enlarge print
  • Add an 'update' option for newest information
  • Support French language
  • Add more categories
Show 5 more
  • Add a notes section
  • Add more info to toxicology
  • Improve content depth
  • Fix orientation quirk
  • Remove ad banner

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Emergency Central

Subscriptions1
  • Emergency Central Renewal$99.991 Year
One-time1
  • Emergency Central$159.99
2 purchases

Bedside EM

Subscriptions1
  • Annual Subscription1 Month trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$199.99

Questions

Is Emergency Central free?
Emergency Central is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bedside EM free?
Bedside EM is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Emergency Central or Bedside EM?
Emergency Central is rated higher. Emergency Central averages 4.8 out of 5 from 55 ratings, while Bedside EM averages 4.2 from 60 ratings.
Do Emergency Central or Bedside EM have ads?
Neither Emergency Central nor Bedside EM shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Emergency Central or Bedside EM?
Emergency Central ships an update every 9 months, and Bedside EM every 5 months. Most recently, Emergency Central was updated on September 24, 2026 and Bedside EM on September 23, 2026.

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