A visit to the Emergency Department

The Emergency Department at Latrobe Regional Hospital can be a place of mystery for the thousands of people who present there each year.

“What will happen to me?” is a question on most people’s minds as they contemplate their attendance at Emergency. 

Then, there’s the waiting - consistently the most common complaint about any emergency department - and the wondering about what’s going on inside.

Once you arrive at Latrobe Regional Hospital’s Emergency Department you must be seen by the Triage Nurse.

The Triage Nurse is a senior registered nurse who carries out a clinical assessment of your condition, determines the urgency of the illness or injury, and whether you should be seen immediately or wait for treatment pending more urgent cases.

Once you have been “triaged” and given a Triage Category from One to Five – with One being the most urgent and needing treatment immediately (see page 3 for definitions of each of the categories), you will then be requested to see the reception staff.

The reception staff in Emergency will take your details, fill out the necessary forms and then ask that you be seated. 

The role of the reception staff is very important, as it is essential to obtain your correct details including the spelling of your name, date of birth and address for the clinical staff in the Emergency Department.

If you are assessed by the triage nurse as needing immediate treatment you will be taken into a cubicle where a nurse and doctor will undertake a comprehensive assessment of your condition. 

This may require tests to help the medical team plan your treatment.

Your blood tests will be analysed by Gippsland Pathology Service at Gippsland’s largest pathology laboratory located on site at Latrobe Regional Hospital. 

Gippsland Pathology Service provides a 24-hour seven-day a week service at the Hospital.

To continue your full assessment, you may require an x-ray test to be taken. 

Regional Imaging Gippsland, located directly beside the Emergency Department inside the Hospital, undertake different kinds of imaging tests such as x-rays.

You may need to be transferred to their facilities to have an x-ray or other tests taken such as a CAT Scan. 

If your condition is very serious, the radiographers are able to bring a mobile x-ray machine to your bedside.

Following an assessment of your tests and general medical condition, you may either be treated, sent home with information and asked to seek your GP’s assistance the following day or, if your condition warrants further treatment, you may be admitted into hospital.

If you need to be admitted, your condition and required treatment will be assessed and other care teams will be called into action as required. 

For example, if you need to have immediate surgery, your doctor in the Emergency Department will contact the on-call surgical team at the Hospital who will then swing into action.

Often parents or guardians may come into the Emergency Department with their sick or injured children. 

A Hospital can be a very unfamiliar and uncomfortable place for small children. 

Two special rooms within the Emergency Department have been designated for treating our ‘little people’.

The rooms include large bright paintings on the walls and a television and video to provide some distraction for the child patient during a clinical examination or while they wait for test results. 

If the child needs to stay for long periods of time, to allow close monitoring of their condition, sofa beds are provided for parents’ or a guardian’s comfort.

Many people also arrive at the Emergency Department with a family member or loved one for support. 

A separate quiet area inside the Department is provided for family members if a patient is required to stay for an extended period.

This room includes tea and coffee making facilities. 

Latrobe Regional Hospital provides meals for Emergency Department patients, as long as they are permitted by their doctor to eat. 

This service is not available to families, who can obtain food from the Hospital Café close by.

If the patient is a young child and their stay is expected to be an extended one, the Hospital can provide meals for parents during their extended stay to ensure the child remains calm and comfortable.

If you are ever in need of emergency medical treatment, you can be assured that a highly qualified team of nurses, doctors, specialists and support staff, backed by senior emergency consultants, are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to care for you at Latrobe Regional Hospital’s Emergency Department.