Emergency Department · Ground Floor
Emergency care, at any hour
Our Emergency Department is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No appointment is needed and no one is turned away for inability to pay.
If a life is at risk, call your local emergency number first.
When To Come In
Signs that need emergency care
If any of the following apply to you or someone with you, come to the Emergency Department now or call for an ambulance. Do not wait for an appointment.
- Chest pain or pressure, especially with sweating or breathlessness
- Sudden weakness or numbness in the face, arm or leg, or slurred speech
- Difficulty breathing or choking
- Heavy bleeding that does not stop with pressure
- A head injury with confusion, vomiting or loss of consciousness
- Sudden severe abdominal pain
- Seizure lasting more than five minutes, or a first seizure
- Thoughts of harming yourself
Not An Emergency?
Where else to go
Emergency departments are built for life-threatening problems. For anything else you will be seen faster elsewhere.
- Same-week appointmentFor a new but stable problem, book with internal medicine. Slots are held open each day.
- On-call nurse adviceCall +1 (800) 555-0142 outside clinic hours and ask for the on-call nurse.
- Your own physicianFor a known condition that has changed, your usual specialist is best placed to advise.
What To Expect
How a visit to the Emergency Department works
Median time from door to doctor is fourteen minutes. Patients with the most urgent conditions are seen first, which sometimes means waiting while someone who arrived later is treated ahead of you.
- 1. Arrival and triageA triage nurse assesses every patient within minutes of arrival. The order of treatment is decided by clinical urgency, not by who arrived first.
- 2. AssessmentYou are seen by an emergency physician, who may order blood tests, imaging or an ECG. All of these are available on site at any hour.
- 3. TreatmentMost patients are treated and discharged within four hours. Where a specialist is needed, they come to the department rather than you moving.
- 4. Admission or dischargeIf you need to stay, a bed is arranged and your family is told where you are going. If you go home, you leave with written instructions and a follow-up plan.
| Opening hours | 24 hours a day, every day of the year |
|---|---|
| Entrance | 31st Street ambulance bay, north side of the campus |
| Treatment bays | 32, including a separate pediatric area |
| On-site imaging | CT, X-ray and ultrasound at all hours |
| Companions | One person may stay with you throughout |
| What to bring | Identification, insurance card and a list of your medicines |
Arriving by ambulance
Paramedics transmit your vital signs before arrival, so the resuscitation team is waiting when the doors open.
Chest pain and stroke
Suspected heart attack and stroke bypass the waiting room entirely and go straight to imaging or the catheterization lab.
Children
A separate pediatric area with pediatric-trained staff, away from adult emergencies, with a parent beside them at all times.