User:Caitlinmrose/Emergency department
An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of patients who present without prior appointment; either by their own means or by that of an ambulance. The emergency department is usually found in a hospital or other primary care center.
Due to the unplanned nature of patient attendance, the department must provide initial treatment for a broad spectrum of illnesses and injuries, some of which may be life-threatening and require immediate attention. In some countries, emergency departments have become important entry points for those without other means of access to medical care.
The emergency departments of most hospitals operate 24 hours a day, although staffing levels may be varied in an attempt to reflect patient volume.
Emergency Department
[edit]Lead
[edit]An emergency department (ED) or emergency room (ER) is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine and the acute care of patients who show up without prior appointment, either by their own means or by that of an ambulance. The emergency department is typically found in a hospital or other primary care center. Due to the unplanned nature of patient attendance in emergency rooms, patients often show up with life-threatening injuries or illnesses requiring immediate urgency and attention. In some countries, ERs have become crucial to opening doors for those who don't have any other means of access to medical care. Although ERs must be operating 24 hours a day, it becomes difficult to keep up with the inflow of patients, available rooms, equipment, and beds, and staffing levels to keep the ER up and running.
Effects of overcrowding
[edit]Emergency department overcrowding occurs when function of an ER is hindered by the inability to treat all patients in an adequate manner. This is a common occurrence in emergency departments worldwide. Overcrowding causes inadequate patient care which leads to poorer patient outcomes. To address this problem, escalation policies are used by emergency departments when responding to an increase in demand (e.g., a sudden inflow of patients) or a reduction in capacity (e.g., a lack of beds to admit patients). The policies aim to maintain the ability to deliver patient care, without compromising safety, by modifying "normal" processes. In recent years, there has been a rise in ER overcrowding that often leads to patients being treated in unsafe conditions. ER overcrowding is a risk for patient care, rising health care costs, and several hour long waits for hospital beds that don’t exist.
COVID-19 in California hospitals
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, California hospitals have seen an increase in overcrowding and inadequate patient
References
[edit]Rahmatinejad, Z., Dehghani, T., Hoseini, B., Rahmatinejad, F., Lotfata, A., Reihani, H., & Eslami, S. (2024). A comparative study of explainable ensemble learning and logistic regression for predicting in-hospital mortality in the emergency department. Scientific Reports, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-54038-4