Emergency Department
24/7 Emergency Care
When emergencies happen, you need to know that you will get the high quality care you need at any time of the day or night. Our Emergency Room Health Care Team is there for you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The Health Care Team
Our Emergency Department is staffed by professionals with specialized training to assure you the best care possible. Certifications of staff include Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Advanced Neonatal Life Support, Advanced Trauma Life Support, and Pediatric Advanced Life Support.
Patients are cared for by Physicians, Registered and Licensed Practical Nurses. At Orleans Community Health we use Hospitalist if admission to the hospital is necessary, or at the discretion of the ED Physician. On-call specialists are also available for conditions that require a specific medical expertise.
Triage
Triage is a process for identifying conditions that require immediate attention or special equipment.
Patients arriving in the ED are seen by a nurse who assesses patients to identify conditions requiring immediate attention, and to prioritize care based upon the circumstances. Because patients are prioritized based on the urgency of specific individual needs, it is not always possible to see on a first come, first serve basis. Staff make every effort to minimize waiting. Patient surveys show that 83% of our patients are seen by a doctor within 15 minutes.
Testing
The ED physician may order lab tests or x-rays. These take time to be collected, processed and interpreted. Every effort is made to complete this as quickly as possible, and to keep the patient/ family informed of any delays. A decision regarding treatment cannot be made until all test results are interpreted by the physician.