Wait Time in Bethesda - Montgomery County Hospital Emergency Rooms
Maryland hospital emergency rooms have some of the most extended wait times in the United States.
WTOP's Michelle Murillo (follow @WTOP on Twitter) reports on Montgomery County Fire and Rescue's new program called "Direct to Triage" to reduce ER wait time for ambulance patients.
Even an ambulance ride to a Montgomery County hospital doesn't mean you'll skip the wait time in the emergency room lobby. Maryland's Emergency Room waits are some of the longest in the US. The national average for ER wait time was 281 minutes in 2017, and in Montgomery County, the wait time averages 376 minutes according to recent data.
"The only hospital in the county that scored above the national average for how long it took to see a health care professional once a patient arrived at the emergency department was Adventist. However, it was still below average on most other emergency department-related metrics." according to Murillo's report on wkop.com.
Both Walk-ins and ambulances patients are waiting for a beds, and this means emergency responders can't get back going to other emergency calls while they wait with patients. Lower priority Ambulance patients who need medical attention, but their condition is not an emergency, can wait for as long as 80 minutes for a bed. These are patients that need medical care but not on an emergency basis.
"That is just crushing us," he said. "We have units that can't clear. Our providers, our clinicians, are not being productive while they're sitting there.", said Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Capt. Ben Kaufman, in Fire Chief Scott Goldstein.
To respond to long ER wait times, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue has created a program called 'Direct to Triage' to help identify patients who can wait to free-up emergency responders to take other calls. According to Montgomery County Fire, 60% of ambulance patients are patients who can wait.
The Direct to Triage program started February 1, 2020, and is already helping to reduce turnover times ("time between when the ambulance arrives at the hospital to when the patient is off the ambulance stretcher, and care has been transferred to the hospital.").
Approximately ten patients per-day are now "sent to the waiting room without the ambulance having to wait for an open bed in the emergency department," saving time that adds up to hours of time emergency responders now have to answer other calls.
You can check for ER wait times at Maryland Hospitals here: https://healthcarequality.mhcc.maryland.gov/MarylandHospitalCompare/index.html#/professional/quality-ratings/condition?topic=10&subtopic=21&searchType=geo&geoType=region®ion=1698.
Learn more about Montgomery County Ambulance Services and the new Direct to Triage program here: https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2020/02/montgomery-county-er-ambulance-wait-times/
BrightStar Care of Montgomery County provides hourly to 24/7 Senior Home Care.
We provide support around the clock and a full continuum of private duty home health care services, including companionship, personal care, transportation, medication assistance, and skilled nursing. We proudly serve Germantown, Bethesda, Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, Takoma Park, Kensington, Ashton, Sandy Spring.
For more information on how BrightStar Care Bethesda supports seniors and families, and to learn more about our local team of caregivers, skilled healthcare professionals, and home health care support for Montgomery County families and businesses – Please Click Here.
Source: https://www.assistedliving.com/signs-elderly-parent-unsafe-alone/