The best place to be in an emergency—because every second counts

Medical City has the most advanced emergency department in North Texas which allows our specialists to diagnose and treat patients faster than ever. Our comprehensive emergency team,  including board-certified emergency medicine physicians, specially trained nurses and physician assistants, has one goal in mind—to get you assessed, on the road to treatment and back to your life faster.

We have expertise you can trust in the most dire of emergencies—we are proud to be an Accredited Chest Pain Center and an Advanced Primary Stroke Center.

Specialized Care for Children

Medical City Children’s Hospital understands that children are not small adults. Our independent children’s emergency department provides each child the special attention they deserve. The medical staff is trained in emergency pediatric care with board-certified pediatricians and pediatric registered nurses. Medical City has a highly dedicated child life team providing a variety of services and support. Our private rooms are designed with children and families in mind.

For more information on our ER for the smallest patients, visit Medical City Children’s Hospital.

FASTERTX.com

Looking for ER wait times? Check out FASTERTX.com.  MAIN ER Wait Disclaimer: ER wait times are approximate and provided for informational purposes only.

The ER wait time represents the time it takes to see a qualified medical professional, defined as a Doctor of Medicine (MD), Doctor of Osteopathy (DO), Physician Assistant (PA) or Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP).

ER wait times represent a four-hour rolling average updated every 30 minutes, and is defined as the time of patient arrival until the time the patient is greeted by a qualified medical professional.  Patients are triaged at arrival and are then seen by a qualified medical professional in priority order based on their presenting complaint and reason for visit.

National average wait time is one hour, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  HCA hospitals strive to beat the national average.

Any non-digital posting of HCA average ER wait times reflects the previous month’s average.

When To Go: Signs and Warnings

You should be aware of the signs and symptoms of a stroke or a heart attack. Very rarely do these conditions begin with dramatic symptoms. For example, you might be surprised to learn that most men and women having a heart attack don't even realize it. That's because the vast majority of heart attacks happen slowly with just discomfort or mild pain. Relatively few heart attacks strike with a sudden, intense pain that makes someone clutch his chest. More often, patients aren't sure what's wrong and don't get help soon enough.

Heart Attack Warning Signs

• Chest discomfort: Discomfort in the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes that comes and goes. Chest discomfort is also described as uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body: Symptoms can include pain or discomfort radiating to one or both arms, the back, neck, or jaw.
• Shortness of breath: This may occur with or without chest discomfort.
• Other symptoms: These may include breaking out in a cold sweat,  abdominal pain (epigastric) nausea, vomiting or lightheadedness. The warning signs for men and women are different. It is important to know and understand the differences:
  • Women are more likely than men to experience some of the other uncommon symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.
  • A third of women experience no chest pain at all when having a heart attack and 71 percent of women report flu-like symptoms for two weeks to a month prior to having a cardiac event.

Visit the American Heart Association for more information on the warning signs of a stroke or heart attack.

Stroke

Strokes are often referred to as brain attacks. They are the nation's third cause of death and leading cause of long-term disability. Someone experiences a stroke every 45 seconds and someone dies from a stroke every 5.1 minutes. As an Advanced Primary Stroke Center, the multidisciplinary stroke team at Medical City is equipped to acutely treat stroke patients with the FDA approved clot dissolving medication, tPA (tissue plasminogen activator). This treatment can dramatically increase the patients outcomes,  but must be administered within 3 hours of symptom onset. The Emergency Department has implemented an acute stroke protocol to ensure the rapid evaluation and treatment of patients who are potential candidates for this treatment. Take a minute to listen to Dr. Lise Labiche talk about what makes us a leading provider in stroke care.

As an HCA hospital in the North Texas Division, Medical City is affiliated with the Texas Stroke Institute. The Texas Stroke Institute is a collaborative initiative that includes 11 hospitals. Our goal is to develop an effective and resource-efficient plan to reduce the morbidity, mortality and economic burden of stroke in the region. By incorporating medical education, participating in research, and meeting the national bench mark we will achieve our goal of being national center of excellence in stroke.

Stroke Warning Signs

If one or more of these signs is present, don't delay:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding, and altered mental status
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden severe headache with no known cause