Emergency Department FAQs - English

People wait in the emergency department for many reasons. Some of these include:

• Waiting while the sickest patients are seen first
• Overcrowding due to seasonal issues such as flu
• Many patients arriving at once
• Waiting for radiology and laboratory results (some test results take longer than others)
• Waiting for consultations from specialist physicians
• Shortages of inpatient beds in the hospital, resulting in patients remaining longer than expected in the emergency department

The very best care takes time. A triage staff person will grade your condition by severity. Patients with potentially life-threatening conditions such as a stroke, heart attack, hemorrhages and severe trauma are seen first. Patients are seen by order of severity of their condition, not by order of when they arrived. Once in the treatment area, your time spent in the ED may depend on your symptoms, illness and/or whether you will be admitted to the hospital. The time of day and the day of the week may also determine how busy the emergency department is. Typically, the emergency department is busiest between 3:00 and 11:00 p.m. Weekends and Mondays are usually the busiest days of the week.

We must care for critical patients with life-threatening conditions first. If you have a minor illness or injury, you may have to wait while sicker or more severely injured patients are seen first.

The triage process determines who needs to be seen first in order of severity. During triage, the severity of a patient’s condition will be determined. In addition, when a patient first comes to the emergency department, personal and medical history information will be obtained, and vital signs will be checked, including temperature, heart rate and blood pressure.

To accurately diagnose your condition, we need time to review your laboratory and radiology tests. Most laboratory and radiology results take approximately two hours to process. However, some tests take longer than others.

As a patient in the emergency department, you will be cared for by a team of highly skilled professionals. These include the following:

• A medical doctor (MD/DO) has overall responsibility for your care. Doctors talk to the laboratory, nurses and other doctors as necessary.
• Physician assistants and/or nurse practitioners are allied health professionals who work in conjunction with the physician to care for your illness or injury.
• A registered nurse (RN) will assess and monitor your physical condition, give you medication, maintain your intravenous line and keep you and your family informed of any tests and procedures. Each nurse works very closely with your doctor to provide the best care possible for you.
• Emergency department technicians may also be involved in your care.

When you are discharged from the emergency department, you will be given instructions on self care and a telephone number to call if you have continued problems. You may be instructed to follow up with your primary care physician. You will be responsible for your own transportation home. Our goal is to provide each patient with emergency medical care of the highest quality. If you are dissatisfied with the care you receive at any time during your stay, please inform your nurse or doctor before you leave so that we may address your concerns.

The purpose of the emergency department is to treat life-threatening emergencies. ED professionals are specially trained to care for emergent medical issues and stabilize a person’s health, so they may be discharged to receive more thorough and long-term care with a primary care physician. Since time is of utmost importance in many ED situations, the in-depth health profiles and examinations that take place in a doctor’s office will typically not be performed in an emergency department.

After you are treated and released from the emergency department, you may receive a survey regarding your recent experience. Please complete the survey and return it as soon as possible. We value and appreciate your feedback, and we will use your comments to identify opportunities to improve. We also encourage you to recognize any of our staff members who may have gone above and beyond in delivering your care.