Contrasting American EDs with the World’s Largest Hospital

By Zubair Chao, MD   Dr. Thomas Cook and I escaped the dry heat of South Carolina to land in Chengdu, China, home of West China Hospital, in July 2012. He was set to teach an emergency ultrasound class, and I was on a global mission as part of my emergency medicine residency.   Some say it is the largest hospital in the world, boasting 5,000 beds, nearly 100 operating suites, and a large outpatient center, which, on any given day, has about 10,000 patients.     West China Hospital   The ED at West China Hospital recently moved to its new home in a larger, more modern facility. It sees about 160,000 patients a year, which is about twice what we see at Palmetto Health Richland. They have about a dozen attendings and more than 30 residents, in addition to rotators. The department is divided into several areas based on the severity of the case, and it has a few operating suites though they’re not currently used because they don’t have available staff. It also has a fast-track area, a low-acuity observation area, a secondary moderate-acuity rescue area, a high-acuity primary rescue area, and an emergency ICU. There is also a debridement room for procedures and a trauma area. Patients who come to the ED, primarily by private vehicle, are first seen in triage, where they are referred to the appropriate location depending on their acuity. The ED also has a cashier and a pharmacy; patients pay a-la-carte for tests, procedures, and medications.     ED triage Â...
Source: Going Global - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs