In order to assess hospital emergency rooms, a comprehensive national epidemiological investigation was conducted in all 155 public emergency structures in Tunisia. Here we present the main results of the levels of availability and use of emergency services. Coverage of the population by services is adequate (one emergency service per 60,000 people). Emergency wards admit about 2,500,000 patients every year (a quarter of the population of the country). The university hospital emergency services are the most heavily used (150 patients per day on average). Emergency services are sought for medical (60%), surgical (18%), paediatric (14%) and gynaecological reasons (5%). It would be useful to assess the quality of care delivered and the satisfaction of citizens and health workers.