Emergency Department

Why do some people go in ahead of me when I arrived before they did?

All patients arriving in the Emergency Department, whether they arrive by ambulance or by their own transportation, will be triaged by a specially trained nurse. While you are being triaged, the nurse will ask a series of questions to help determine the severity of your illness/injury. If necessary, they will also provide initial first aid for your injury, order some bloodwork, an electrocardiogram or an x-ray to help the healthcare provider figure out the cause for your illness, or they may give you some medication to help you feel better before you see the healthcare provider. This triage system allows patients to be seen according to the severity of their illness and ensures that the sickest patients are seen first. We appreciate your patience if you are required to wait. While waiting, if you have questions or you feel your condition has become worse, please let the triage nurse know right away. 

If I take an ambulance to the Emergency Department will I be seen by a healthcare provider sooner?

Not necessarily. If you feel your illness/injury is serious and you need medical attention immediately, call 911 and get help right away but remember, all ambulance patients are triaged the same as if you came in by another means of transportation. If the triage nurse determines that your illness/injury is not of a critical nature and that you don’t require immediate medical attention, you will be asked to wait in the waiting room so that we can see the sickest patients first. While waiting, if you have questions or you feel your condition has become worse, please let the triage nurse know right away.

What are some other options for healthcare in the area if I don’t want to come to the Emergency Department?

If your health care provider is part of a Family Health Team, they have after hours clinics that will allow you to be seen by a healthcare provider in the evening. Please check the links below to find out when the after hours clinics are and how you can access them.

Thamesview Family Health Team

Chatham-Kent Family Health Team

Tilbury Family Health Team

If you are a patient of the Chatham-Kent Community Health Centre, you can call to see if there are any same day appointments available to help you. A link to their services are below:

CKCHC Services

What if I don’t belong to a Family Health Team or the Community Health Centre? Where can I go to get help for my illness or injury?

If you feel your illness/injury is serious and you need medical attention immediately, call 911 and get help right away. If you need medical attention and you do not have a healthcare provider, come to the Emergency Department. We would be happy to help you.  

If you are looking for a health care provider you can contact Health Care Connect and they can help you find one.

Click here to contact Health Care Connect

I ask the wait time when I call or arrive at the Emergency Department and no one will tell me how long I will have to wait. Why can’t the nurses give me this information?

The Emergency Department is a very unpredictable area. It is difficult to give you a wait time on the phone or when you speak to the triage nurse because a sick patient can arrive at any moment requiring the ED team to be very busy for a long time. We don’t like to provide estimates on the time you will wait because we don’t want to disappoint you if we can’t meet those times and we can’t predict when a sick patient will come in and cause the waits to be longer. We ask that if you need to be seen in the Emergency Department please be patient with us. We are trying to give the best possible care to the patients that are the sickest first. Please keep in mind that the wait times will fluctuate depending on the severity of the patients we are seeing in the department and depending on the ambulances that bring patients needing more immediate care. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

The waiting room is practically empty and yet I still have to wait. Why do I have to wait when there is no one here?

It may appear that there are no patients waiting to be seen and yet you still have to wait. We understand that this is frustrating and hard to understand. Often times, the Emergency Department team is helping very sick patients in the department that have arrived by ambulance (an area that can’t be seen from the waiting room) or by other transportation. Please try and be patient. We will do our best to see you as quickly as we can. While waiting, if you have questions or you feel your condition has become worse, please let the triage nurse know right away.

My loved one has been brought into the Emergency Department by ambulance. How can I get in to see them?

It is a very frightening time when a loved one is brought to the Emergency Department. We are here to help. Please let the triage nurse know when you arrive that your loved one has been brought in. They will do their best to bring you back to see them right away. Sometimes this is not possible and you will be asked to wait for a few moments while the team is helping your loved one. We will bring you to see them as quickly as we can.