People seek care in an emergency department for a variety of illnesses, injuries and conditions, any of which many can be lifethreatening. The caregivers of the ER must be equipped and ready to provide care to all patients, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, regardless of gender, age, creed, national origin, infection status or their ability to pay.
When patients arrive in the ER, some are having life-threatening episodes while others may be experiencing pain or suffering from a non-urgent condition such as the flu. The ER staff uses a sorting process called triage to make sure that those who need treatment the most are seen first. Patients with lifethreatening illness or injury have priority over less urgent problems.
The ER staff at Mount Nittany is an experienced group of professionals skilled in determining the severity of a patient’s condition. Life-threatening issues usually involve a person’s airway, breathing or circulation, including cardiac arrest or uncontrolled bleeding.
When a patient arrives at the Mount Nittany Medical Center ER, they are greeted at the front desk, where the staff collects personal information, including the reasons the patient has come to the ER. If it is obvious that the patient needs urgent care, they are taken directly back to the medical care area.
Next, the triage nurse obtains a brief medical history and assesses the patient’s vital signs, such as blood pressure, temperature, pulse and respiration level. Once completed, the patient is sent to the appropriate area of the ER for treatment.
If you feel you need to visit the ER, please bring an updated list of medications being taken and don’t eat or drink anything prior to arrival. If you have contacted your physician and have been told to come to the ER,
Many of our sickest patients arrive by personal vehicle. That can sometimes have devastating results; if your loved one is having a heart attack and goes into cardiac arrest before they get to the ER, their chances of survival are greatly decreased.
Many people have the misconception that calling for an ambulance takes too long, but in reality, paramedics and emergency medical technicians can provide cardiac pulmonary resuscitation, medicine and other treatments upon arrival, which can make the difference between life and death. So call for an ambulance if you or a loved one are having chest pain or any significant breathing or bleeding issues.
If you have been by Mount Nittany Medical Center lately, you will notice that our ER is fully operational but also undergoing renovations. This expansion will help us accommodate the increasing number of ER patients and will include many updated areas.
Most of the new rooms in the ER will be private rooms with attached bathrooms. The outpatient lab and registration services have access to convenient and patient-focused check-in at the new main entrance.
After renovations are complete, emergency patients will enter through the ambulance entrance. Respiratory and neurology patients will continue to enter through entrance C. Cancer center, radiation oncology and PET scan patients will continue to enter through entrance E. The ramp entrance by the delivery dock and leading to the corridor on the ground floor is now open for employee and vendor use.
Please look for announcements on our grand opening of the ER in the spring.
Theo Waskmunski, RN, is the emergency department manager at Mount Nittany Medical Center, State College. Visit www.mountnittany.org for more information.
