CHOC Childrens Opens the First Emergency Department Just for #OC Kids!

Just in case you missed it, here's update on the latest exciting news on CHOC Children's Hospital. CHOC Children’s officially opened Orange County’s first fully pediatric-dedicated emergency department on March 26, 2013. The 22,000-square-foot facility has 31 treatment rooms with capacity to add more. The department’s exam rooms are spacious and can accommodate family members and strollers. Also, family members may stay with their child continuously to help make treatment decisions.

Photo Courtesy of CHOC Children's Hospital.

As a first-response pediatric emergency department, the facility will receive critically ill children by ambulance. An ambulance bay can accommodate up to four emergency vehicles at once, and children can also arrive by helicopters that can land on either of CHOC’s two rooftop heliports.

"The Julia and George Argyros Emergency Department was specifically designed to meet the unique needs of the region’s youngest patients – from newborns to young adults. It is continuously staffed by doctors who are board-certified in pediatric emergency medicine, as well as specially trained nurses."

 

 (c) CHOC Children's

 

Private patient rooms reduces the spread of infection and allow physicians, nurses and other hospital staff to focus more intently on individual patient needs. The rooms are also “same-handed,” or, identical, with equipment and supplies located in exactly the same place. Standardizing these rooms greatly reduces error, because the care team becomes oriented to the environment.

 

(c) CHOC Children's

Previously, CHOC Children’s shared an Emergency Department with nearby St. Joseph Hospital of Orange. There, physicians saw about 55,000 pediatric patients annually, and that volume is expected to immediately transfer to the new facility. In coming years, about 65,000 patients from across the county are expected to visit the department each year. With three triage suites, the department is structured for expedient triage, rapid diagnosis and treatment to streamline each patient’s visit. Also, patients may receive many necessary services, such as blood tests and X-rays, without leaving the department. Other services are available inside The Bill Holmes Tower at CHOC.