Upon your arrival in the Emergency Department at the University Hospital, a specially trained nurse will evaluate your child’s condition and ask for his or her medications, allergies and immunization record. Part of our expertise is in triage; that is, assessing which patients are the most acutely ill or whose injuries require immediate attention. As you know, in an emergency department, it is extremely important that we treat the most acutely ill or injured patients first. However, our staff will ensure that children with minor illness or injury also are treated as quickly as possible.

After checking in, we will ask that you sit in the Children’s Emergency waiting room until one of our staff members is available to treat to your child. We will make every effort to provide treatment as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

In general, patients are seen in the order in which they arrive. It may seem that patients are taken out of order because certain patients are waiting for particular services. For instance, a child may need to see a dentist or ophthalmologist and so is taken immediately to that specialty area for treatment.

If your child’s condition worsens after triage, please notify us. Occasionally, children without life-or limb threatening conditions will wait longer because we are caring for a critically ill or injured child.

We work hard to provide excellent care while evaluating and treating patients as efficiently as we can. Please remember that everyone here has an unplanned illness or injury