Emergency Department
Whidbey General Hospital’s Trauma Level 3 Emergency Department is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The department treats approximately 15,000 adults and children every year, for minor ailments to life-threatening emergencies. The thirteen-bed department is staffed with highly trained physicians and nurses around the clock.
The care delivered in the Emergency Department is augmented by other hospital services that include:
- Diagnostic Imaging, which includes:
- X-Ray
- Ultrasound
- CT
- MRI
- Laboratory
- Pharmacy
- Social Services
- Respiratory Therapy
These services all come together to provide the best possible service with quality results.
What to expect when you arrive at the hospital to be seen in the Emergency Department:
- You should use the Main Entrance to the hospital. There is not a separate entrance for the Emergency Department.
- You will be greeted by a person at the front desk who will direct you to the Triage Area or the Emergency Department waiting area. A Triage Nurse will respond to you to complete a triage.
What is triage?
The term "triage" simply means to prioritize. In the Emergency Department we triage (or prioritize) all patients in order of severity of illness. Emergency Department nurses are experienced in quickly identifying and prioritizing patients as they arrive at the hospital. While every attempt is made to see patients in the order they arrive, the order is not determined by who arrived first. Critically ill and/or injured patients may cause delays.
Once in the patient care area, you will be seen by a physician and nurse. Please feel free to ask any staff member any question during your stay. We endeavor to give the highest quality care to you in the shortest amount of time. Your length of stay in the department will be effected by a number of factors, but the largest factors include:
- Number of ancillary test ordered by the physician
- Number of patients being treated in the Department at any given time
- Number of patients arriving by ambulance
The Emergency Department at Whidbey General has been designated by the State of Washington as a Level III trauma center.
We have a state-of-the-art helipad to quickly transfer patients needing specialized care not offered at Whidbey General Hospital. Airlift Northwest is the company usually utilizing the helipad. Examples of patients that may need to be transferred by helicopter include:
- Cardiac Catheterization and other interventional cardiac therapies
- Severely burned patients
- Complicated pediatric cases
- Complicated trauma cases
The Emergency Department endeavors to provide healthcare services, focused on the needs of the whole person in a quality, compassionate, and a caring manner while encouraging people to become partners in their own healthcare.