What To Expect at the ER: 7 Tips for Your Emergency Room Visit

A trip to the emergency room is always a stressful experience. If you’ve never been before, it can be even more daunting.

You may be entering a room filled with people in various states of distress and pain. The ER team may be dealing with traumatic injuries, accident victims or life-threatening conditions.

While there is order in all this chaos, it may not seem that way to you. Having a better understanding of what you are seeing – and why it is happening – can help make your ER visit less stressful.

The ER is there to provide an around-the-clock option for people who are facing the loss of life or limb. Beyond that, the ER team also covers a wide range of medical conditions – from broken bones to common colds

Navigating the ER: Triage, Testing and Care

1. Don’t be surprised if you have to wait. No one wants to keep you waiting. But the ER team has no control over the number of patients who show up for care – or what condition they are in. If you’re in a crowded ER and aren’t in dire straits, it’s not unusual to have to wait a significant amount of time. Unfortunately, this could be a few hours or longer. Know that your ER doctors and nurses are doing everything they can to get to you as soon as possible.
2. The triage process is critical. At the heart of the emergency room operation is the need to quickly and carefully evaluate every patient who comes through the door. This process – which occurs upon your arrival – is called triage. During this initial assessment, you will be assigned a score (1 through 5), with level 1 being the highest priority and level 5 the lowest. To put it simply, a patient suffering a heart attack is going to be seen before a patient dealing with an earache.
3. Your care may include blood tests and imaging. Emergency rooms are equipped with many of the diagnostic tools needed for evaluation and diagnosis. The team will initially evaluate your vital signs (pulse and blood pressure) and will perform follow-up evaluations as needed. Your doctor may also order a range of diagnostic tests, including blood tests, X-rays, ultrasounds, CT scans and, if needed, MRIs.
4. There are pain management options. Controlling your pain is one of the primary goals of the ER. The options will vary widely, based on your symptoms and medical condition. These include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), sedatives and narcotics administered through an IV.
5. Arrive prepared, if possible. Ideally, you will come to the ER with someone – a family member or friend, for example. Having that friendly face at your side can help take some of the edge off the experience. Also bring a list of your current medications, medical conditions, allergies and previous surgeries. This will help the team conduct its initial evaluation. For your comfort, it’s a good idea to bring a cell phone charger and, perhaps, a sweatshirt or sweater (ERs tend to be cold.)
6. Avoid snacking or drinking. Don’t eat or drink anything until after you have been evaluated. This will help avoid the potential for extra delays if you need to be transferred to the operating room.
7. Expect a follow-up plan. When you leave the ER, you will usually have a follow-up plan in hand. This could be a referral to a primary care doctor or to a specialist for the next steps in caring for your condition. You may also have a drug prescription that needs to be filled. If anything is unclear, this is the best time (before you are discharged) to ask questions.

No one is eager to go to the emergency room. But if your body is telling you something is wrong, don’t hesitate to visit an ER or urgent care clinic. Many life-threatening conditions will be much easier to treat if you seek help quickly.

This content is not AI generated.