Video: What to Expect in the ER

The Emergency Department at BWMC is the second-busiest ER in the state of Maryland. We see over 90,000 patients a year, with conditions varying from cuts, falls and motor vehicle accents, to life-threatening emergencies such as heart attacks and strokes. We recently expanded our emergency department to have over 70 treatment areas, making our emergency department larger than some entire hospitals.

Baltimore Washington Medical Center, we've implemented an innovative program that eliminates all the steps that get in the way of a patient seeing a provider. Our goal is to get the patients seen immediately by a physician, or physician assistant. Paperwork is left to the end, so we can address the concerns that brought you into the ED today. As a result, our patients will be seen by a physician or physician assistant within 30minutes. Once you get into a treatment area, you'll be seen within 10 minutes.

The sooner we can get you seen, the sooner e can address your concerns, and the sooner we can address the pain that you're having. In addition, we have the most current medical technology available to us, and consultants available to us in nearly every major medical field.

All the providers at the Emergency Department at BWMC are able to see children of all ages--from newborns to teenagers. In addition, we have a pediatrician available 2r hours a day, 7 days a week, meaning that your child will receive the best level of care possible in our emergency department.

The most common symptom of a heart attack is chest pain. Chest pain is often described as discomfort that comes and goes and feels like a pressure or squeezing. Everyone should be aware that chest pain is not the only system that can be a sign of a heart attack. Shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, jaw pain, back pain, or even cold sweats can also be a sign of a heart attack. While this is true for any patient, this is especially true for diabetics and women. At BWMC, we have cardiologists available at all hours to come in and save life-saving procedure such as an angioplasty, which will restore the blood flow the heart so desperately needs.

It's extremely important for everyone to be able to recognize the signs of a stroke. Symptoms include numbness to one side of the body or weakness, difficulty seeing, sudden severe confusion, or headache. As with any emergency, you should call 911 immediately. As a primary stroke center, our emergency department and neurology department are able to provide the life-saving treatments that are needed during a stroke. With this designation, ambulances are allowed to come directly to our hospital, even bypassing other hospitals so we may provide you the treatment you need.

"People are often concerned when they should come to the emergency department. It is not often the decision of the patient to be able to make that determination. If you feel like you're having an emergency that needs to be dealt with immediately, we feel you should come to the emergency department no matter what. If you have the ability to talk to your primary care physician, please do. But do not let that stop you from coming in the ED if you feel it is necessary.

There are so many features of our emergency department that make my life as a physician and your ability to get care in our emergency department so much easier. We have a main acute care area that we see our sickest patients in, we have a separate area for patients with minor accidents, as well as a separate area for pediatrics and psychiatric patients. We also have an ultrasound machine in our emergency department, and we have the ability to see patients in a very quick manner. Our staffing is superb in that we can have as many as 9 providers in the department at our busiest times, and upwards of 3 or 4 even in the morning hours when we are not as busy.