Patients presenting with general surgical emergencies are hypovolemic, and require early aggressive resuscitative efforts. Although these efforts may safely be accomplished preoperatively in a select subset of patients, it is often the combined task of surgeons, anesthesiologists, and internists to optimize these critically ill patients in the intraoperative and postoperative period. Early surgical consultation and intervention can be lifesaving. This article presents the current state of emergency surgical care in the United States and the approach to the patient with an emergency surgical illness. The aggressiveness of the surgical intervention is patient- and disease-specific and requires frequent and open communication between all health care providers, the patient, and his or her family. In addition to aggressive resuscitation, life-threatening general surgical conditions often require specific diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.