Comparison

Emergency Central vs boostEM

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
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

boostEM

A medical calculator for emergency physicians, offering over 60 clinical decision rules and rapid medication doses. Includes tools like a pupillometer and visual acuity chart, functioning offline without ads.

Highlights
  • 60+ clinical decision rule calculators
  • Rapid medication doses
  • Pupillometer
  • Estimated gestational age calculator
  • Visual acuity chart
  • Offline functionality
Read full description

boostEM is a medical calculator designed from the ground-up for emergency physicians. The app is designed to be the fastest tool in your pocket for clinical decision rules in the emergency room. • Score calculators for over 60 clinical decision rules • Rapid medication doses • Tools including pupillometer, estimated gestational age, visual acuity (Snellen chart), and optokinetic drum • No internet connection required • No ads Examples of clinical decision rules included: • Critical Care: CURB-65, PESI, PORT, Ranson's, Well's, ABG calculator • Cardiology: HEART, CHADS2Vasc, Brugada, Sgarbossa, TIMI • Trauma: Canadian rules, NEXUS, PECARN, Parkland, GCS • Pediatrics: bilirubin tool for neonatal jaundice, Centor, respiratory score • Neurology: NIH stroke scale, ABCD2, MMSE • Toxicology: osmolal gap, modified Rumack-Matthews If you like this app, please give it a good review and spread the word! Please email us with suggestions. Note: This application is designed for medical professionals only. It is not for use by the lay public or non-specialists. In addition, dosing of medications is designed as a guide and should be verified prior to administration. This medication guide is not designed for patients with organ failure, immunocompromised states, other significant comorbidities, or extremes of age. Information provided in this app does not supercede appropriate clinical judgement.

Screenshots

Emergency Central4 screens
boostEM4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: boostEM at 100% against Emergency Central's 63%. boostEM also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 9 months). Emergency Central's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.6) and ratings volume (55 vs 9). On price, ads and device support 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. boostEM asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Emergency Central holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Emergency Central has 55 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 63% of Emergency Central's written reviews are positive against 100% of boostEM'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, boostEM every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Emergency Central versus boostEM: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEmergency CentralboostEM
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (55 ratings) — better4.6 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews62.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings55 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 9 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.07.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB20 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperUnbound Medicine, Inc.Dirkes Medical, PLLC

Customer experience

Emergency Central

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

boostEM

All ratings9 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Emergency Central

Subscriptions1
  • Emergency Central Renewal$99.991 Year
One-time1
  • Emergency Central$159.99
None

boostEM

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Emergency Central free?
Emergency Central is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is boostEM free?
boostEM is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Emergency Central or boostEM?
Emergency Central is rated higher. Emergency Central averages 4.8 out of 5 from 55 ratings, while boostEM averages 4.6 from 9 ratings.
Do Emergency Central or boostEM have ads?
Neither Emergency Central nor boostEM shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Emergency Central or boostEM?
Emergency Central ships an update every 9 months, and boostEM every 3 weeks. Most recently, Emergency Central was updated on October 7, 2026 and boostEM on October 10, 2026.

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