Emergency / Urgent Care Services

The emergency room/urgent care clinic receives people at all times with physical or mental health problems requiring assessment, stabilization and treatments. 

List of hospital centres with emergency services :

The presence of caregivers is encouraged when making an emergency visit, as well during short-term care.

A caregiver is a person the patient names in writing as being the person accompanying them during their stay in a hospital environment. This person can be a family member or someone close to them.

Not sure if your condition requires an emergency room visit?

Contact Info-Health by dialing 811. A nurse will provide advice and indicate the resources or professionals who can meet your needs. You will be advised whether a trip to Emergency is necessary.

Arriving at Emergency
Upon arrival to the emergency room, a nurse will assess your symptoms and/or injuries. This assessment is to ensure quality care and to quickly detect the most urgent cases requiring immediate intervention. Based on rigorous criteria established by the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale, the nurse establishes a rating on a five-level scale:

CANADIAN TRIAGE AND ACUITY SCALE

• Level 1: Resuscitation – Conditions that are threats to life or limb
• Level 2: Emergent – Conditions that are a potential threat to life, limb or function
• Level 3: Urgent – Serious conditions that require emergency intervention
• Level 4: Less urgent – Conditions that relate to patient distress or potential complications that would benefit from intervention
• Level 5: Non-urgent – Conditions that are non-urgent or that may be part of a chronic problem

Wait Times
The waiting time depends on the number of people in the waiting room, but also on the condition of the people kept under observation. Indeed, some patients require more care than others. The doctor must ensure that a patient’s condition has stabilized before seeing another, and regularly reassess the condition of each patient in their care. If there is a change in your medical condition while you are waiting, notify the assessment nurse.

What To Bring to the Emergency Room

• Health insurance and hospital cards
• List of medications and the contact details of your pharmacy

*Leave your valuables at your home. 

Emergency Room Guidelines

• Patients admitted anytime during operating hours
• One visitor at a time per patient
• Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult and are not allowed to visit a patient in isolation
• People with flu or gastroenteritis symptoms should not visit patients
• You may be asked to temporarily leave your loved one for treatment or to allow them to rest.

A visitor may be asked to leave the room during treatment and/or to allow for a patient to rest.

The hospital reserves the right to limit visits in exceptional situations in the following ways:

• One visitor at a time per patient
• Maximum 10 minutes at the start of each hour

Ways in which a caregiver or someone accompanying a patient can be helpful:

• Inform the nursing staff about the state of health of their loved one
• Relay the information that the patient wishes to transmit to those around them
• Coordinate and supervise visits by loved ones in accordance with hospital policy
• Participate in certain basic patient care procedures being advised by a nurse