The Emergency Department at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Winnsboro is equipped to handle medical emergencies for people of all ages. Physicians on the medical staff and other clinical employees are prepared to deal with serious injuries and illnesses 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Medical staff physicians and the nurses are trained in emergency medicine and advanced life support. The hospital has a helipad for helicopter transport to major trauma centers, if necessary. Texas Health Winnsboro's emergency department has a Level IV Trauma Center designation from the Texas Department of Health's Bureau of Emergency Management.

What to Expect
We realize that seeking emergency services is stressful. This information below will provide answers to some of your questions about triage and wait times.

What is Triage?
Triage is a process used by emergency departments to rank patients based on the seriousness of their condition.

How does the ER determine the order that patients are seen?
The triage nurse uses a three-level system to rank patients' conditions:

• Category 1: Emergent: Patients whose symptoms are severe, and without immediate medical attention, could result in loss of limbs or death.
• Category 2: Urgent: Patients whose symptoms require prompt medical attention but are not likely to suffer loss of limbs or life if medical care is not received for a short period of time.
• Category 3: Non-urgent: Patients whose symptoms need a medical evaluation and treatment, but time is not a critical factor.

How long do I have to wait to be seen?
Wait times vary for each person depending on how serious their condition is, the category assigned by the triage nurse, and how many patients have more serious conditions.

Patients arriving by ambulance or walking into the emergency department may be seen before people who have been waiting if the physicians on the medical staff determine their conditions are more serious based upon the above triage system.

If you leave the waiting room area once you have been triaged, you will be considered to have left without being seen and will need to re-register. Other patients may be seen before you and result in longer wait times.

How does a noisy emergency department impact triage?
According to research by Bush-Vishniac, hospital noise levels have been consistently rising. Placing cell phones on silent and speaking in a moderate tone may help triage to be completed quicker, due to the improved ability to communicate.

After you are treated and released, you may receive a survey regarding your experience in our emergency department. Please complete the survey and return it to us as soon as possible. We value and appreciate your feedback, and will use your comments to identify areas for improvement.

Call 1-877-THR-WELL (1-877-847-9355) for more information.