Procedures and Services

Our goal at Atrium Medical Center is to make the time between a patient entering our facility and receiving treatment as short as possible.

Triage

Emergency care usually begins with triage, a system of grouping patients by medical need. Our Triage Nurse completes a preliminary evaluation to determine the nature and severity of the illness or injury and places the patient in one of these categories:

• Immediately life-threatening
• Urgent, but not immediately life-threatening
• Less urgent

Patients with minor illnesses or injuries are routed to Select Care for a shorter wait and quicker treatment. Patients with more severe conditions are moved to a private treatment emergency room.

Following triage and registration, typical Emergency Trauma Center (ETC) procedures could include the following:

• Evaluation
• Testing
• Electrocardiogram
• Intravenous access
• Supplemental oxygen
• Laboratory tests
• X-rays
• Treatment and consultation

For our trauma patients, procedures could include:

• Airway maintenance/intubation/assisted breathing
• Bandaging
• Burn cooled/dressed
• Cardiac monitoring
• Cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
• Defibrillation—automated external defibrillator (AED)
• Defibrillation—manual
• Emergency child birth
• IV therapy
• Major/minor bleeding controlled
• Multi-purpose emergency dispatch system (MEDS)
• Neck/spine immobilization
• Oxygen
• Psych assistance
• Restraints
• Shock management
• Splinting
• Suction
• Telemetry
• Traction