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Our priority is to always provide treatment to people who are seriously ill, in pain or are suffering.

Read our information below about what to expect at the emergency department.

Triage and registration

You might come to the emergency department by private transport or by ambulance.

Regardless of how you get here, when you first arrive, you will see a triage nurse.

Triage

Triage is the name of the system we use to sort where and when patients should be seen when they attend our emergency department.

They will check how you are by:

  • asking questions about what has happened, how you feel and questions about your health
  • measuring things like your pulse (how fast your heart is beating), blood pressure and temperature.

These things will help the nurse work out how quickly you need to be treated.

After you have seen the triage nurse, another staff member will ask you for some details that will help identify you. It’s useful if you have your Medicare card handy.

Treatment

When and how you are treated will depend on your health needs. We aim to treat you as quickly as we can. How long you wait depends on how sick you and other people are.

You may need tests or specialist treatment.

This may mean you wait for tests and results in another place in the hospital. If you’re in the Canberra Hospital emergency department in Garran, these could be:

  • fast track: for people who have minor injury or illness
  • children's emergency area
  • acute
  • behavioural assessment area
  • Emergency Medicine Unit.

Your plan of care

We will talk with you about any test results you have. Together we will talk about your options and what will happen next. This may include:

  • going home
  • staying as a patient in Canberra Hospital or North Canberra Hospital
  • going to another hospital
  • being treated at home or in a clinic by a Hospital in The Home (HITH) team - we have HITH teams in Garran and Bruce
  • for non-urgent matters, seeing your GP for follow-up.

Practical information

Waiting for treatment

Our emergency departments have several different areas where patients may be waiting to be seen. We may move you from the main waiting area to another waiting room before you are seen by your doctor. For this reason, it may appear as though less urgent cases are seen before you.

Mobile phone use

You can use your phone to stay connected to your family and friends. Please think about people around you and keep noise low.

We can help you if you need to charge your phone.

To respect the privacy of staff, patients and visitors, you must ask our staff for permission before taking any photos or videos. Do not take photos or videos of people who have not agreed to it.

Visitors

Your family and friends are welcome. We will let you know how many visitors you can have with you. Your family and friends can ask us how they can help with your care.

Lost property

If you think you may have left something behind you can check by talking to the team at Canberra Hospital main reception, Building 5, Level 2 (street level) at Canberra Hospital, or main reception at North Canberra Hospital.

Smoke free campus

Our hospitals are smoke-free. If you need help or support to quit we can help you.

Health information sheets

We have a downloadable information sheet about [PDF 367kB]. This was written for Canberra Hospital emergency department, but a lot of the information is relevant to North Canberra Hospital emergency department, too.

We also have this information available in other languages: