Department of Emergency Medicine

If you have an emergency, call 9-1-1!

Conemaugh Health System provides emergency care at its four hospitals, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including a Level 1 Regional Resource Trauma Center at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center. Departments of Emergency Medicine are staffed by experienced providers that use the latest methods and technology to diagnose and treat medical emergencies. Providers in the Department of Emergency Medicine include board-certified emergency medicine physicians, licensed physician assistants, licensed nurse practitioners and certified registered nurses. Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center's Department of Emergency Medicine is accredited by The Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center. 

Each of Conemaugh's Departments of Emergency Medicine handle patients with minor injuries to major trauma. Trauma patients at Conemaugh Meyersdale, Conemaugh Miners, and Conemaugh Nason Medical Centers are stabilized and transported to the Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center's Level 1 Regional Resource Trauma Center.

Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center's Department of Emergency Medicine offers:

• 24-hour staff readiness
• State-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment equipment to help track and monitor patient progress
• Cardiovascular laboratories and surgical suites
• Digital radiology rooms that are located in the department, eliminating the need to move patients to other sections of the hospital for testing
• Sophisticated computer technology that provides patient lab results, diagnostic information, discharge information and other confidential data quickly and securely
• Direct access to cardiologists and the cardiac catheterization lab for emergent cardiac care
• Rapid CT scanning and medication administration for stroke patients.

Wait Times

While the goal is to promptly evaluate all patients who present to the Department of Emergency Medicine, the unpredictable nature of emergencies often result in patients having to wait for periods of time. Wait times can vary each day and can change depending on unexpected occurrences. These events may include trauma patients, respiratory or cardiac arrest patients, as well as critically ill patients.

Triage

All patients presenting to the Department of Emergency Medicine are triaged. Those with more apparent urgent and serious problems will be evaluated first. Those with less severe and acute problems may, unfortunately, have to wait until a room is available. Ultra Track is utilized at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center for patients requiring less intense and time-consuming evaluation.

Provider in Triage

Provider in Traige is a process created to improve the patient care experience by decreasing the time it takes patients to see a medical provider. Patients who meet criteria are seen through an expanded triage process that incorporates a rapid assessment by both expert nursing staff and a medical provider. This team approach allows providers to begin the medical workup and often provide treatment while patients are still in the waiting room. Once in a treatment room, initial test results are available and many patients can be either admitted or discharged.

The primay goal of this process is to improve the patient care experience. By incorporating the medical provider into the triage process, Conemaugh staff are able to initiate testing sooner and hopefully better utilize the time patients spend in the Department of Emergency Medicine.