Clear explanations of what happens in the emergency room.
Care may already be underway while you remain in the waiting room. Staff may be assessing your symptoms, reviewing results, and watching for changes even before you enter a treatment room.
Five patients arrive in ten minutes, by ambulance, on foot, and by wheelchair. Here’s what actually decides who gets treated first, and why.
Emergency physicians routinely perform procedures and manage serious conditions without another specialist at the bedside. Here’s when a consultant is needed—and when the emergency physician is already the right specialist for the job.
A referral to the ER is a request for an emergency evaluation, not a preordered test. After examining you, the emergency team may recommend different imaging, or no CT at all.
Your patient portal just flagged a result in red. Before you Google it, here’s what “abnormal” actually means, and doesn’t.
An ambulance ride to the ER doesn’t put you first in line. Here’s what actually determines who gets seen first, and why.
Most ERs cannot simply turn you away. EMTALA requires an appropriate emergency screening, but it does not guarantee every test, treatment, or admission.
The ER clinician said they’re going to admit you. At least, you think that’s what he said. You’ve been sitting in the same ER room for four hours since then. What gives?
