Fast Track in Emergency Care

The Emergency Department at St. John's Episcopal Hospital is a seven-bed unit dedicated to patients with non¬critical conditions such as colds, small cuts or sprains. Sicker patients are triaged to the Emergency Department. At Fast Track, patients are examined first by a competent and caring physician's assistant; then every Fast Track patient is seen by a doctor.

"We know many in our community rely on the good services of our Emergency Department. Fast Track will reduce waiting time for the less sick where they will be seen in more pleasant surroundings while the critically ill, on the other hand, will receive the complete attentions of the Emergency Department," says Eric Nazziola, MD, Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine. "We have it as our goal to have the Fast Track patients in the Emergency Department only half as long as the sicker patients, Because of Fast Track, everyone - both the less sick and the more critically ill - will be seen in a shorter amount of time."

Spared the sight of monitors and more critically ill people and painted in soothing coral hues, Fast Track patients have a less traumatic experience. "When a person presents to the Emergency Department in a horizontal position (lying on a stretcher), that person generally needs more patient care," says Dr. Nazziola. "When a person presents to the Emergency Department in a vertical position (ambulatory), that person may need more customer service."