Grand River Hospital uses the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale when first assessing patient needs in the emergency room. This helps our care providers ensure that patients with the most urgent and emergent needs receive care first.
The scale is as follows:
Level 1 – resuscitation: conditions that are a threat to life or limbs (or imminent risk to deterioration) requiring immediate aggressive interventions.
Level 2 – emergent: conditions that are a potential threat to life limb or function requiring rapid intervention or delegated acts.
Level 3 – urgent: conditions that could potentially progress to a serious problem requiring emergency intervention. May be associated with significant discomfort or affecting ability to function at work or activities of daily living.
Level 4 – less urgent: conditions that related to patient age, discern of potential for deterioration or complications that would benefit form intervention of reassurance within one to two hours.
Level 5 – non-urgent: conditions that may be acute but not urgent as well as conditions which may be part of a chronic problem with or without evidence of deterioration. The investigation or intervention for some of these illness/injuries could be delayed or even referred to other areas of the hospital or health care system.
If you feel your condition while waiting for treatment is worsening, please notify triage nurse immediately. This will help the nurse identify your changing needs to adjust your level intended care inside the department.
Waits in the emergency department
Grand River Hospital’s emergency department is the source of over two-thirds of the facility’s in-patient admissions. Our care providers deal with a wide range of needs at any given time.
Waits can be about both the number of patients in the emergency department at a given point, and also the severity of their needs. When the hospital is very busy and there are many patients in the emergency department, we want to ensure we’re able to place patients in the nursing unit that’s best able to meet their needs.
If a patient has completed their care in the emergency department, they may be moved to the nursing unit where they will be admitted to begin treatment before a room is ready. In this case, staff will begin their in a screened-off hallway holding area until a room is available. While we understand that this isn’t ideal, it’s important for care and safety that the right-skilled staff support each patient’s care needs. This also allows the emergency department to continue to provide care for incoming patients.
If moving a patient to a unit is not possible right away, they will remain in the emergency department where their care will continue until a bed becomes available. |