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Smithville Regional Hospital's emergency department offers full service emergency care. Our facility is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For your safety, we offer a 6 bed ED, 5 of which have cardiac monitoring capability. The staff of the ED is ready to meet all your emergency health care needs. Our ED is staffed with board certified physicians. Our physicians, nurses and other allied health care personnel are specially trained and equipped to handle medical emergencies of any caliber.

Many acutely ill and/or trauma patients are treated each month in the ED and either stabilized and treated here or transferred to one of the local trauma or tertiary care hospitals in Austin.

Emergency medical services are available to provide care to those involved in traumatic injuries, those suffering from major illness as well as minor problems. Injuries often seen in the emergency room include car accidents, heart attacks, breathing problems, poisonings, burns and minor illnesses such as infections, cuts and broken bones.

Helicopter transport is available through Critical Air or Star Flight to rapidly transport critically ill patients to other facilities when needed.

Medical staff
Smithville Regional Hospital's Emergency Department is staffed by an independent group of physicians experienced in providing emergency and trauma care. An emergency department physician is always on staff and available in-house. Currently there are four main physician's staffing in the ED. This continuity makes the patients and the staff confident of the medical decision making offered at Smithville Regional Hospital Emergency Department.

Nursing staff
Smithville Regional Hospital's emergency department is staffed by registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses and other trained medical personnel. These professionals are trained in emergency care and are competent to handle even the most critical patients. All licensed staff are trained in advance cardiac life support for adults and pediatric patients. Management of a variety of trauma injuries is also a required education component for the staff. All staff are enthusiastic about their role in providing the best emergency care possible to patients entering our doors.

What will happen when I come to the emergency department?
Triage is the first step when you visit the emergency department. To triage means to classify and to treat patients with the most serious medical needs first. When triaged, each patient is classified according to need and assigned an acuity level as follows:

• Emergent - those who have a life-threatening illness or injury
• Urgent - Those who are in stable condition, but still need help as soon as possible.
• Non-urgent- those who have minor problems or chronic complaints

What this means to you is that you may not receive treatment on a first come, first serve basis. Critical patients are always given top priority, while those with a less severe injury or illness may be required to temporarily wait in the lobby until beds are available.

When you arrive at Smithville Regional Hospital emergency department you will be briefly examined by a triage nurse who will:

• Ask you symptoms
• Take your vital signs
• Take a brief medical history

Based on this, you will be assigned an acuity level to assure you receive the treatment needed in a timely manner as indicated by your condition.

Waiting time and treatment
We understand that waiting to see the physician or waiting on a loved on is hard. It is important to remember that some patients may require more immediate assistance than others.

If you have been waiting for a long time you may feel like leaving the Emergency Department before you receive a medical screening by the physician. You have the legal right to do this, but we strongly discourage it. Getting a screening examination may save your life and it may prevent your condition from worsening.

If you are a visitor, the Emergency Department policy allows only one visitor to remain with the patient when possible. This is due to space constraints and patient confidentiality. If the department is extremely busy, the ED charge nurse may deem it necessary to ask all visitors to remain in the waiting room. Visits to critical and trauma patients may be allowed after the patient's initial assessment is completed.

Once you have been placed in the ER treatment area, the medical team may request a test to help determine if the patient needs medication, corrective procedures or admission to the hospital. Many tests are performed in the Emergency Department, while others are done elsewhere in the hospital. These tests take time to perform and evaluate and often require radiologists to interpret x-rays or lab technicians to analyze blood tests. Please keep in mind that the amount of time will vary depending on the number of other tests being performed throughout the hospital. Quality care takes time. No one can tell you exactly how long evaluation and treatment will take. The nursing staff will keep you informed to the best of their ability. Please feel free to ask the staff what your plan of care is and how your visit is progressing.

Pain Medications
Many patients who come to the ED are in varying degrees of pain. Medications for pain are given as ordered by the ED physician. Please be aware that at times pain medications must be withheld for awhile pending consultations from surgeons or other medical professionals. This is done in order to not alter the patients awareness of the pain and/or to assure that the patient is able to consent to any required procedure beyond the general consent form signed on arrival.

After being treated, there will be a temporary delay in discharge, especially if you received an injectable medication. This observation period (called "MED time" by the staff) gives the staff an opportunity to judge the effectiveness of the treatment given and monitor for adverse medication reactions. Smithville Regional Hospital has pre-determined discharge criteria which must be met prior to discharge of the patient. Any or all of these factors may delay your discharge.

Going home
After you have been treated, the nursing staff will provide you with doctor's instructions regarding a variety of issues including:

Taking medications as prescribed, home care instructions-Wound care, splint care etc. and follow-up care instructions.

Remember to follow the instructions exactly as directed. They are important to your recovery.

Please remember to ask questions if you don't understand something about your ER visit or what the physician wants you to do after your visit. All patients need to follow-up with their personal physician or the specialist who has been recommended.

If there is a discrepancy between the initial ER physician's interpretation and the final radiologist's reading of your x-rays, your primary care physician will be notified. If you do not have a primary physician, we will need to contact you directly. It is imperative that you provide us with an accurate way to reach you after your visit.

Looking into the future:
The hospital has announced plans to expand our department. An additional 6 beds will be added. We will then have a total of 12 beds. 2 of which will be fully equipped trauma rooms. Each of the rooms will be private and enclosed for privacy, other than the 4 cardiac ward beds which are curtain divided for maximum visibility.

Additional Notes:
For medical/legal liability reasons, the staff of Smithville Regional Hospital Emergency Department do not give medical advice over the phone. We are not allowed to diagnose or make treatment suggestions without assessing the patient, which must be done in person. 24 hour pharmacists in the Austin area, are available by telephone for your medication related questions. As always, if you feel you have a medical emergency, please do not hesitate to come to the emergency department.

In addition, for confidentiality reasons, information about your care or visit can not be released by staff over the telephone. A telephone is available for patient use to update family and friends as needed.

We do everything we can to make your visit as pleasant as possible. If you have questions or concerns about your visit, please ask a staff member or call us at 512-237-5736