Emergency Medicine
In any hospital, interconnected teams of experts and professionals work diligently to save lives, prolong lives and improve the quality of people's lives. To this end, the Department of Emergency Medicine is a perfect example of how this important life-saving work is carried out.

"During the consolidation process that led to the establishment of Trinitas Regional Medical Center, our chief goal was to create an Emergency Department that would not only meet the needs of our patients, but would also be scalable and able to meet the challenges of a post-9/11 world," said Gary S. Horan FACHE, President and Chief Operating Officer of Trinitas.

Today, the Trinitas Regional Medical Center Emergency Department is a state-of-the-art facility that has 15 acute-care beds, a six-bed observation area, a six-bed "Fast Track" area for patients with minor illnesses and injuries, two triage rooms and a decontamination shower facility. A designated Chest Pain Center, the Emergency Department is often the front door for many patients who experience superior care through the services of our Cardiology Center of Excellence.

"Unlike many hospitals, Trinitas Regional Medical Center is a full service institution. As such, we are fully-equipped and staffed to provide a complete range of services to those in need of general as well as specialized services such as pediatric or obstetric care."

Assessment
"Our ultimate goal is to get patients in and out of our department as quickly, and as efficiently, as possible," explained Joseph Kuchinski DO, Chairman Emergency Medicine at Trinitas. "We assess patients, stabilize them, and get them where they need to go. In many cases we can diagnose, treat and send the patient home, but in other cases, we have a person with major trauma who needs extensive intervention before we can send them for surgery, intensive care or perhaps cardiac care."

For many who have a perception of an Emergency Room with extremely long waiting times, Trinitas has put forth a major effort to dispel that notion in patients' minds. "We have computerized our entire Emergency Services operations, and we constantly monitor how long it takes a person to be seen once they arrive in our Waiting Area, how long it takes them to receive care, and where they go once they leave our department," says Kuchinski.

This type of data analysis happens in the background. In the foreground, the teams who work 24/7 are constantly challenged by the nature and variety of needs patients present to them on a daily basis. "You never know what's going to happen next," says JoAnn Snyder RN, Administrative Director. "Just when you think everything's under control and you can take a deep breath, someone else is brought in and everyone is put to the test again. I think that it's this sense of challenge that keeps everyone motivated and working as a team."



Speeding Your Way
The staff of the Emergency Department makes every effort to furnish timely diagnosis and treatment. "We provide bedside registration, which saves time for many patients. Most lab results are transmitted to us within 20 minutes of testing. We have x-ray facilities in the ER for faster, or immediate, response," explained Ms. Snyder, who added, "88% of all patients are ultimately discharged, and average time in/out is less than 2:30, which is faster than the average for similar facilities in our area."

Triage
One of the things that patients in the Waiting Room may not notice is that many seriously injured and ill patients are often brought in to the ER via ambulances in the back of the Department. "Many people think everyone walks in to our department through the front door, when, in fact, at the same time, others are wheeled in on stretchers through our back doors," says Kuchinski. "This is one of the things that, at times, creates the misconception that people in the Waiting Room are not being tended to in an orderly manner."

The concept of triage is something that Joseph would like patients to know more about. "There are various levels of injury and illness that have been universally identified," he says. "Someone who is bleeding profusely and in obvious, acute pain needs immediate attention and must be stabilized immediately to prevent them from bleeding to death. Another person may come in with a broken wrist and, depending on what other acute patients we're treating, that person might wait longer in that scenario than they might if we didn't have any acute patients to tend to."

Triage is a concept that is also used by the military to assess and treat soldiers on the battlefield. "While many patients are not in life-threatening situations, to them, their illness or injury is extremely important. We understand and recognize this fact, and we strive to assess and treat them as soon as humanly possible. The fact is that, depending on the other situations we're dealing with at any given point in time, the amount of time it takes to get that person in and out of our department can vary in terms of time."



Mobile Intensive Care
Often, your assessment and treatment begins in your home, or in your car or wherever you find yourself in need of immediate, urgent medical care. That's where our Mobile Intensive Care Unit, working in concert with local medical ambulance services, begins stabilization and immediate treatment. "If you're having a heart attack, we have an immediate course of treatment that begins at the scene," says Kuchinski. In fact, in this instance, a patient would be referred immediately to our Cardiology Center of Excellence for immediate attention.

According to Kuchinski, "our MICU units are equipped and staffed to recognize, assess and treat patients who can often be stabilized at the scene or on their way to the hospital. If we begin treatment as soon as possible, many lives can be saved in the process by the initiation of off-site Triage."

Psychiatric Emergencies
For patients in crisis, Trinitas Regional Medical Center maintains a separate Psychiatric Emergency Department at the New Point Campus. A strong Center of Excellence at Trinitas Regional Medical Center, the Department of Behavioral Health and Psychiatry provides full inpatient and outpatient services for children, adults and seniors. Call 908-994-7131 for more information.

Professional Care
In addition to speed, quality of care is of equal importance. "It's not good to be the fastest if the quality of care is sub-standard," says Kuchinski. "Our medical and professional staff is dedicated to their respective professions and, as such, each member of our staff strives to provide excellent care to every patient we encounter."

All of the department's physicians are board certified in either Emergency Medicine or other specialties like Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and/or Obstetrics. There is also an in-house anesthesiologist on staff at all times.

The general public would be amazed to learn the amount of training our doctors and staff have amassed," says Kuchinski. "In addition, we all undergo Continuing Medical Education that enables us to stay ahead of new techniques and trends in patient care. We are extremely proud of the skill, precision and professionalism of our staff."

Trinitas Regional Medical Center oversees the continuing medical education of every member of the staff who deals directly with patients and patient care issues. Through the Trinitas Regional Medical Center Institute for Healthcare & Community Education, we also provide education and training to members of the general public who are interested in CPR training, First Aid response and other topics.



Disaster And Emergency Preparedness
A disaster could occur at any given point in time. To prepare for this possibility, Trinitas Regional Medical Center conducts disaster drills and provides emergency preparedness training to all staff members who would be directly involved in treating patients in such an event. For more information on providing your company's employees with this type of training, contact Laurie Sheldon in our MICU department by phone at
908-527-5215 or via email.