Comparison

EM vs Basic Emergency Care

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

Head to head
About

EM

Access a comprehensive library of medical education resources, including audio podcasts, HD videos, and board review materials. Stay updated with the latest in emergency medicine, urgent care, and primary care through expert analysis and curated content.

Highlights
  • Audio podcasts for emergency, urgent, and primary care
  • HD procedure videos with expert commentary
  • Board review courses for MDs, RNs, PAs, NPs, and students
  • LLSA paper reviews and quizzes
  • Literature reviews and abstracts
  • Comprehensive urgent care education
Features
Read full description

Join 65,000 of your colleagues and subscribe to the #1 online medical education platform in the world. Gone are the days when you had to buy multiple products from different vendors. With EM:RAP you gain access to everything you will ever need throughout your career, all for one low price. Because what you do matters! AUDIO PODCASTS Our emergency medicine, urgent care, and primary care audio programs have something for everyone. Just starting out? Our Comprehensive Core Curriculum (C3) has you covered for all of the most common presentations to the Emergency Department and Urgent Care. More of a seasoned vet? There is a reason our flagship EM:RAP podcast is the #1 EM audio program: it is full of cutting-edge updates from the specialty’s leading voices. Looking to expand your Urgent Care knowledge? UC Max has you covered! HD VIDEOS Can’t remember exactly how to execute that tricky procedure? Have no fear, our HD video section is filled with expertly-shot procedure videos and expert commentary. We also regularly host live shows to cover topics of interest. Additionally, we are building a robust library of video courses and lectures so you visual learners can deep dive into specific topics of interest. BOARD REVIEW Our Crunch Time audio product is a comprehensive board review course for MDs, RNs, PAs, NPs, and students of all types. We even have separate versions for both Emergency Medicine and Family Medicine! LIFELONG LEARNING AND SELF-ASSESSMENT (LLSA) Our reviews of LLSA papers cut straight to the chase. Listen to the audio and take the attached quiz, and you’ll be ready to ace the ABEM LLSA exam! LITERATURE REVIEWS Our Emergency Medical Abstracts team analyzes over 600 papers each month, so you don’t have to! And we dissect and summarize the best of these abstracts so you have the very best-available information for your practice. PRIMARY CARE Right on Prime is our comprehensive monthly audio series for the generalist. Primary care, urgent care, low-risk obstetrics, pediatrics, rural, remote and international medicine, paper reviews, and much more! URGENT CARE UC Maximus has revolutionized Urgent Care education. Your membership unlocks exclusive access to a comprehensive suite of UC educational products. ABOUT EM:RAP For twenty years, Emergency Medicine: Reviews and Perspectives (EM:RAP) has provided the EM community with the highest-quality medical education resources. Now the leaders in the field, the name EM:RAP has become synonymous with EM education. EM:RAP’s UC Maximus platform will do the same for Urgent Care. Our goal is to provide you with a one-stop for all your educational needs. With your EM:RAP subscription you gain access to everything you will ever need throughout your career, all for one low price.

About

Basic Emergency Care

This app guides users through resuscitation skills learned in a medical course. It features a chatbot for progression and a search function to find information on managing specific conditions.

Highlights
  • Resuscitation skill guidance
  • Chatbot for progression
  • Condition management search
  • BEC course integration
Features
Read full description

The ABCDE app is designed to help guide you through the resuscitation skills you have learned from the Basic Emergency Care (BEC) course. Progress through the pathway with a chatbot, search for specific conditions and how to manage them.

Screenshots

EM4 screens
Basic Emergency Care4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: EM at 4.8 against Basic Emergency Care's 4.2. EM also leads on review sentiment (35% vs 0%) and ratings volume (4.5K vs 5). Basic Emergency Care's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.1 vs 16.6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

EM holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: EM has 4.5K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 35% of EM's written reviews are positive against 0% of Basic Emergency Care's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

EM ships an update every 6 weeks, Basic Emergency Care every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
EM versus Basic Emergency Care: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEMBasic Emergency Care
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4.5K ratings) — better4.2 (5 ratings)
Positive reviews35.4% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4.5K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.612.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size43 MB28 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperEM:RAP, Inc.University of California at San Francisco

Customer experience

EM

All ratings4,463 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.5%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews127 reviews
Positive35.4%
Neutral23.6%
Negative40.9%

Basic Emergency Care

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

EM

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Download function doesn't work
  • Downloads Still Don't Work
  • Downloads do not work
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices

Requested features

8 requests
  • Need ipad version
  • Needs CarPlay compatibility
  • CME needs to be in the app
  • Ability to continue playing what was most recently played by default upon opening the app
  • Skip forward/backward 15 seconds button on media display
Show 3 more
  • CarPlay!!!
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

Basic Emergency Care

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

EM

No in-app purchases

None

Basic Emergency Care

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is EM free?
EM is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Basic Emergency Care free?
Basic Emergency Care is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, EM or Basic Emergency Care?
EM is rated higher. EM averages 4.8 out of 5 from 4.5K ratings, while Basic Emergency Care averages 4.2 from 5 ratings.
Do EM or Basic Emergency Care have ads?
Neither EM nor Basic Emergency Care shows ads.
Which is updated more often, EM or Basic Emergency Care?
EM ships an update every 6 weeks, and Basic Emergency Care every 3 weeks. Most recently, EM was updated on November 7, 2026 and Basic Emergency Care on November 3, 2026.

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