THE EMERGENCY ROOM

 by Filomena Keaton

            Have you ever walked into an emergency room, felt like you were dying, and sat there for hours at a time waiting to be seen by a doctor?  Or maybe you were waiting to be seen and watched five other people go in front of you.  I know how frustrating this can make one feel.  I’ve been there! But there is a reason behind these actions.  I know.  I work in an emergency room.  So maybe I can help you see things a little clearer.                        

         Every person that walks through the door and needs some medical attention, must sign in and have a chart made. The next step is to wait until the triage nurse calls your name. The nurse will check your temperature, write down your vitals (blood pressure, heart rate, respirations), check your weight, and run through a checklist that describes the way you look and feel.

When the nurse is finished evaluating you, he or she will put a colored dot on the right hand corner of your chart.  This indicates the severity of your problem.  The red dot is critical and life threatening.  The orange dot is critical.  The yellow dot is urgent.  The green dot is not urgent, but does require some medical attention.  The blue dot is minor.  The blue dot usually goes to an area we call “fast track.”  This area is for the patients that can be moved in and out of the hospital safely but quickly.  For example, you are complaining of a cough and a sore throat, the nurse calls your name.  He or she takes you back to the triage area.  The nurse will evaluate you, do all the assessments that are necessary, and determine how serious your condition may be.  The nurse puts a blue dot on your chart.  You are asked to take a seat in the waiting area until your name is called.  A person comes to the triage window right after you with the complaint of chest pain.   The nurse immediately does an EKG (electrocardiogram) on the patient. This is the tracing made by an electrocardiograph which record the changes that occur during the heartbeat.  Immediately, the patient is taken to the back and put in a room.  Here’s where the fun begins.  We live in a society that pounds into our brain “first come, first serve.” So naturally the people that have been waiting get upset. This is not the case when you come to the emergency room.  The patient with the chest pain (orange dot) will be seen before the patient with the sore throat (blue dot).

These are only a few examples of the emergency room protocols, but I think they are pretty straight and to the point.  So the next time you visit the emergency room as a patient, please remember there are a lot of sick people to be seen.  We will get to you as soon as we can.    

Return to Voices Table of Contents