Emergency Department
Departmental Scope of Services
The Emergency Department (ED) is a 35-bed unit designed to meet the care needs of the emergent patient. The ED is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Our community-based ED provides:
- Triage initial assessment of patients to determine treatment urgency and placement within the ED based on the Emergency Severity Index (ESI), a five-tiered triage system.
- Patient evaluation for response to treatment and admission to UM CRMC or discharge with follow-up instructions as appropriate.
- Patient flow initiatives include patient care protocols, rapid medical evaluations and a results waiting area.
The ED is also the county’s designated sexual assault center and is staffed by on-call Forensic Nurse Examiners who work as part of a multidisciplinary team to provide care for victims of sexual assault and dependent person victims of physical violence.
Patients Served
Our professional staff evaluates and treats patients of various ages and varying levels of illness, from minor to critical.
Overview of Department Services
The ED is divided into care zones. The main ED is the designated zone used to care for the acutely ill patient in need of emergent care.
The clinical decision area is an 8-bed zone that is used to manage our more urgent care patient needs.
The triage and intake zones are designed to allow for rapid medical evaluation, care and discharge of our lower acuity patients.
Staffing Model
Our Emergency Department is fully staff with board-certified ED physicians, physician assistants, registered nurses, ED pediatricians, ED technicians, certified nursing assistants and unit secretaries, scribes, case managers and emergency psychiatric social workers.
As a team, the staff works together to provide high quality and efficient care with the ultimate goal of remaining accessible to the community-based on severity.
Nursing is staffed by the standards or the Emergency Nursing Association and is additionally supported by either a shift coordinator or charge nurse 24 hours a day.
Awards and Honors
Our Primary Stroke Center currently holds the honor of Gold plus Honor Roll Elite status — awarded by the American Stroke Association.
Community Involvement
As UM Charles Regional Medical Center is a community based hospital, many of our staff work and live in Charles County. Our staff is highly active in the community, offering blood pressure screenings, stroke education and support groups. We also volunteer as nurses for community events such as Badges for Baseball and the county fair and assist at county events such as the Mission of Mercy dental clinics.