Summary
Preventive isolation in the emergency department
Ortega M, Mensa J
Affiliation of the authors
Sección de Urgencias Medicina, Área de Urgencias. Unidad de Infección Nosocomial, Servicio de Enfermedades Infecciosas. Hospital Clínic, Barcelona, España.
DOI
Quote
Ortega M, Mensa J. Preventive isolation in the emergency department. Emergencias. 2009;21:36-41
Summary
Patients wait at least 1 to 2 hours on the average before being attended in a hospital
emergency department. In winter, or during a respiratory infection epidemic, wait times
can be 4 to 6 hours. Patients who are elderly or immunocompromised or who have
significant comorbidity may spend several hours in an overcrowded emergency waiting
area, alongside others who may have respiratory tract viral infections or be carriers of
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or multidrug resistant Pseudomonas
aeruginosa. We analyze precautionary measures for isolating hospital emergency patients
in 3 situations: 1) while they wait to see a doctor, 2) while they are in the emergency
room cubicle, and 3) while they wait for a hospital bed.