Italian emergency rooms are going through a period of difficulty with an estimated 15% increase in admissions during the summer months, tied particularly to heat and the presence of elderly people alone in cities. According to data from the Italian Society of Emergency-Urgency Medicine updated to 2026, about 7,000 doctors are missing in emergency rooms, with shortages ranging between 25% and 70% of the planned staffing in 70% of facilities. The figure includes the impact of summer vacations for doctors and nurses, which adds to a pre-existing structural problem.