Emergency Situations

When determining whether to visit the emergency room, consider evaluating your situation according to the following criteria:

• Emergency: life-threatening injury or health problem, extreme pain and/or great difficulty breathing
• Non-emergency: some pain and or labored breathing, no immediate danger of losing your life

If you feel you are having a life-threatening event, please call 9-1-1 and you will be taken to the most appropriate emergency department, depending upon your injury. In a life-threatening situation, time is very important.

Triage

How quickly a physician sees you will depend upon the triage process. Triage is a way of determining which patients are sickest and need immediate medical attention. A patient who came in after you may be seen first because that patient has immediate medical needs.

Nurses assigned to triage are specially trained to classify the urgency of your condition. We must respond to all emergency conditions as quickly as possible, but some are more critical than others.

What to Expect

Once you are taken to a treatment room, a physical assessment will be performed, and you will be examined as soon as possible. Several procedures may be ordered, such as X-rays, respiratory therapy, or laboratory studies. While some of these tests may be time-consuming, they will help ensure a proper diagnosis of your condition. After testing and treatment, you will be discharged from the Emergency Department, admitted to Conway Regional Medical Center, or transferred to another facility.

Our goal is to make sure you have the best medical treatment available. If your condition requires your transfer to another health care facility or request to be transferred to another facility, we will attempt to arrange for you to be accepted elsewhere.

Discharge

If you are discharged from the Emergency Department, you will receive written instructions for your specific condition. These instructions will be explained to you, and you can ask questions regarding your diagnosis, treatment, or after-discharge care.