Access block causes emergency department overcrowding and ambulance diversion in Perth, Western Australia.

Emergency department overcrowding, mortality and the 4-hour rule in Western Australia.

OBJECTIVE To assess whether emergency department (ED) overcrowding was reduced after the introduction of the 4-hour rule in Western Australia and whether any changes in overcrowding were associated with significant changes in patient mortality rates. DESIGN, SETTING AND PATIENTS Quasi-experimental intervention study using dependent pretest and post-test samples. Hospital and patient data were...

Entry overload, emergency department overcrowding, and ambulance bypass.

OBJECTIVES To describe an experience of emergency department (ED) overcrowding and ambulance bypass. METHODS A prospective observational study at Royal Perth Hospital, a major teaching hospital. Episodes of ambulance bypass and their characteristics were recorded. RESULTS From 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2001, there were 141 episodes of ambulance bypass (mean duration 187 min, range 35-995). Mon...

Emergency department overcrowding: ambulance diversion and the legal duty to care.

Overcrowding in U.S. EDS: A Critical Condition

The issue of overcrowding in Emergency Departments (EDs) has become a significant national problem.1-5 Several recent scientific studies have added documentation of the overcrowding problem.6-8 In addition, discussions with emergency physicians across the country and at national meetings indicate that this is a major problem.9-11 Many private, academic, and urban EDs in both large and small com...

Managing access block.

There is pessimism regarding the ability of the Acute Health Sector to manage access block for emergency and elective patients. Melbourne Health suffered an acute bed crisis in 2001 resulting in record ambulance diversions and emergency department (ED) delays. We conducted an observational study to reduce access block for emergency patients whilst maintaining elective throughput at Melbourne He...