Emergency
If you need immediate medical attention, call 9-1-1 or go to the nearest Emergency Department.
Brockville General Hospital’s (BGH) Emergency Department provides emergency medical care and treatment 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. Our goal is to provide you with quick and efficient treatment based on your condition.
Note, our Emergency Department does not offer COVID-19 tests.
The Emergency Department remains extremely busy with high volumes, which can quickly result in physical crowding. We continue to encourage patients, who are able to, attend the department alone. When possible, please bring a charged cell phone to facilitate communication with family.
PLEASE NOTE: The following patient groups are identified as particularly vulnerable and Brockville General recognizes their care partner plays an important role in providing quality and safe care. Every effort will be made to have one care partner enter and remain in the Emergency Department with them.
- People with an imminent risk of dying;
- People experiencing life-threatening or life-altering events;
- Paediatric patients (< 18 years) may be accompanied by two (2) care partners;
- People with significant developmental, physical, or intellectual disability;
- People with cognitive impairment (examples: severe dementia, brain injury, stroke, delirium/confusion);
- People with insurmountable language barrier where all means of remote communication have failed;
- People with hearing and/or visual impairments;
- People with acute mental illness and/or addiction care needs.
In other cases, and when it is safe from an occupancy and physical distancing standpoint, one family member/caregiver may attend with other patients beyond the list above. The Emergency Department clinical team must continually evaluate overall safety in the unit, as well as safety of individual patients, and adjust as required. Family members/caregivers may be asked to limit their time within the Emergency Department or may be asked to leave and return at a later time if required to reduce immediate crowding concerns.
Location and parking
You can find the our Emergency Department on the ground floor of the Charles Street main site, with the entrance located off Ormond Street. Parking is available in the Emergency parking lot.
In case of medical emergency
If you require immediate urgent medical care and are dealing with a serious injury or condition, call 9-1-1.
If you don’t know whether your condition needs to be treated immediately, you can call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000. This is a free, confidential service that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days per week. A nurse on the other end of the line will offer health advice and decide if you should:
- Take care of yourself at home;
- Make an appointment with your doctor;
- Go to a clinic; or
- Go to a hospital emergency room.
Arriving to the Emergency Department (ED)
There are many important things to remember when arriving to the ED.
What to bring
When you know you will be going to the ED, please bring with you:
- A valid health card or applicable medical insurance if you live outside Ontario
- A list of all medications including non-prescription and herbal medication
- A list of allergies
- Any information about your current health condition or illness
- The name and address of your family doctor
- A quiet activity while you wait
- Personal items such as toiletries if you are expecting an extended stay
- A smartphone, tablet or other device, if you have one. Ensure a charger and headphones with a microphone are included with the device.
Triage and registration
After you enter the ED, please visit the nurse at triage. Please remove your coat and have your health card ready. A nurse, specially trained in emergency medicine, will perform a quick assessment and ask questions about your condition.
Once you have been triaged, visit the registration desk, located beside the triage station. Have your health card ready and confirm personal information, like name, address, phone number, family doctor and emergency contact with the clerk.
Waiting room
After you finish with triage and your registration, you may be asked to wait in the waiting room. If you need to leave the waiting room for any reason, please let the triage nurse know. If you feel like your condition is worsening, please check with the triage nurse who will reassess your condition.
Patients rarely are forgotten or overlooked. This can happen if you leave the ED for a few minutes, we call your name and the triage nurse is not aware that you left. If you have been waiting longer than 90 minutes and have not been seen, please check with the triage nurse.
Eating and drinking
Please check with the triage nurse before eating or drinking anything. Depending on your condition, certain tests or treatments may require you to have an empty stomach.
Arriving by ambulance
If you arrive to the ED by ambulance, you are not guaranteed quicker treatment. Every patient, regardless of walking in or arriving by ambulance, will be triaged by a specially trained nurse and will see a doctor according to their level of need. The sickest patients will be seen first regardless of how they arrived.
Leeds Grenville Paramedic Service provides ambulance services across the Leeds Grenville area, 24/7. Paramedics provide pre-hospital and/or emergency medical care. Paramedics will most often take patients to the closest emergency department. In some situations where emergent, specialized care is needed, paramedics can take patients directly to an Emergency Department at a hospital that provides the specialized care.
Emergency Department wait times
Our Emergency Department (ED) wait times can vary by day, time of day and needs of those in the department. The Emergency Department is generally busier between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. and is often busier from Saturday to Monday due to closed family physician offices.
There are usually more physicians working during busy hours, but wait times may still be longer due to demand. Please note that any day can be very busy in the ED.
The length of time you stay in the ED also depends on what types of tests or treatments you may need. You may also require observation in the ED to ensure the treatment you received is helping your condition before being discharged. For example, it can take about:
- 30 minutes to get the results of an X-ray.
- 60 minutes to get the results of a blood test.
- A minimum of 60 minutes to get the results of a CT scan.
Estimated time for discharge
About half of all patients in ED with minor problems are discharged within three hours and about half of patients with major problems may stay for six hours depending on the nature of their condition.
However, ED wait times can change at any moment. Patients are seen based on their medical condition and the severity of their situation. Due to changing demands in the ED and the need to see the sickest patients first, your own wait time could be shorter or longer than average.
Discharge process
Before your discharge from the hospital, make sure that you understand all instructions and expectations regarding your care and healing process. If you have any questions, please ask your health care team. Your family doctor will be notified of your recent emergency visit.
Visiting someone in emergency
If you came with someone to the emergency department, please let the registration clerk know you are with the patient. You may need to provide information about the patient if they are unable to do so. If you are coming to see someone who has already been taken into emergency care, please alert the registration clerk that you are here to see the patient and they will alert the health care team. A member of the health care team may bring you in to see the patient as soon as possible, but visitor numbers may be limited due to:
- The patient’s condition.
- The type of treatment being provided to the patient.
- How busy the ED is.
Please do not visit if you feel unwell with a cold, fever, vomiting, diarrhea or other contagious symptoms, or have experienced these symptoms within the past two days.
Calling about a patient in emergency
Due to how busy the ED may be, a clerk may or may not answer your phone call. Please leave a detailed voicemail and someone will get back to you as soon as possible. We request that one person be the contact for information. If staff are fielding multiple phone calls it takes them away from caring for the patient. Because of privacy regulations, information may be limited.
If a friend or family member is with the patient, it is a good idea to have them be the patient’s key contact person, so they can provide updates to you. This keeps staff focused on providing patient care.
Visitor food services
There are three food and drink service options near the ED waiting room.
Hospital cafeteria
The hospital cafeteria is located near the main foyer and is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. To get there, exit the waiting room through the ED entrance and proceed to the right of the building toward the main entrance (open from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.). Go down the main hallway and turn left through the doors. The cafeteria is about halfway down the hall on the left.
Eleanor's Café
Run by our Brockville General Volunteer Association (BGVA), Eleanor's Café is located on the main level of the hospital near Central Registration.
Eleanor's Café is open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. and Saturday to Sunday from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. To get there, exit the waiting room through the ED entrance and proceed to the right of the building toward the main entrance (open from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.). Go down the main hallway and Eleanor's Café will be on the right-hand side.
Vending machines
You can find vending machines at the ED entrance, central registration area just inside the main entrance, and at the cafeteria.
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