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A Visit to the Emergency Department
The Emergency Department is located on
the southwest corner of the Medical Center in the Center for Advanced
Medicine addition. To access the Emergency Department, follow the
signs off the Washington Street Entrance to OSF St. Joseph Medical
Center. Convenient, short-term parking for families and visitors is
located immediately adjacent to the Emergency Room entrance.
Emergency Department Features
Triage Area:
An experienced RN assesses patients to determine their presenting
complaint. Based on the patient’s presenting complaint and assessment,
a patient may be taken straight back to a patient room. The most
serious and life-threatened patients are always seen first; those with
relatively minor complaints can usually expect a short wait before
being treated by a physician.
Clinical Decision Area:
Emergency Department staff will observe patients who need additional
testing or treatment but will not require a hospital admission.
Registration Area:
Patients will come to registration after having received Emergency
Services to provide insurance and demographic information. For
patients arriving by ambulance, a registration clerk will come to the
patient’s room to obtain necessary information.
Negative Pressure/Isolation Room:
In the event a patient needs isolation, this room is located close to
the Emergency entrance, offering less exposure to others. The
isolation room does not allow air flow to go back to the hallway;
rather it is filtered out of the hospital. Isolation needs could
include patients presenting with TB, Chicken pox, small pox, SARS or
other air borne infection.
Fast Track:
To allow for more efficient and shorter Emergency Room visits, there
are seven Fast Track rooms where patients can be treated for minor
illnesses and injuries. The triage nurse will decide whether a
patient’s problem would be appropriate for treatment in the Fast Track
area.
Decentralized Nurses Station:
Allows nurses to remain close to patient rooms.
Cardiac Care: The Cardiac Room is conveniently located close to the
nurses’ station, to provide for observation of patients.
Nurses Station:
The main nurses station accommodates cardiac monitor screens, space
for a unit secretary and for nurses to complete paperwork.
Trauma Rooms:
Radiology is in close proximity to our five Trauma Rooms, allowing OSF
St. Joseph to expedite care for trauma patients while maintaining
Level II Trauma Facility status.
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