Emergency care
Emergency care is the treatment of unexpected, severe medical injuries or infections. It is typically delivered in an emergency room or an ambulance. Our emergency medicine physicians stabilize your condition as quickly as possible to prepare you for the next step of care or discharge.
Emergency room (ER) in Plantation, Florida
When minutes matter and you need emergency care close to home, you can count on HCA Florida Westside Hospital to provide quick, advanced emergency medical attention.
Our emergency room physicians are board certified in emergency medicine and provide care for patients of all ages. We offer this care at our two convenient emergency room locations in west Broward County, Florida — one at our hospital in Plantation and one freestanding emergency room in Davie.
Comprehensive emergency care
Our emergency department offers you effective care in all types of emergencies.
Features of our ER
To ensure you receive the best possible emergency care, our emergency room features:
- Access to specialty services and physicians in our other HCA Florida Healthcare hospitals
- Advanced care from board-certified emergency physicians and emergency-trained staff
- Dedicated private pediatric emergency room and specialized care for pediatric patients
- Emergency room self-service patient check-in kiosks
- Full-service diagnostic laboratory, including X-rays, computerized tomography (CT) scans and ultrasounds on site
- Free Wi-Fi
Heart attack care
A heart attack, also called a myocardial infarction, is what occurs when blood flow to the heart is blocked. The blockage is typically caused by an accumulation of fat, cholesterol or other substances that form a plaque within the arteries of the heart.
A heart attack can be fatal, but it does not have to be. We can all take proactive measures to have better cardiovascular health and educate ourselves on the symptoms of a heart attack so we can seek help quickly.
Heart attack signs and symptoms
If you believe someone could be having a heart attack, call 911 immediately.
You could save someone's life by recognizing the following heart attack symptoms and signs:
- Back, jaw or neck pain
- Cold sweat
- Dizziness, sudden lightheadedness or fainting
- Fatigue
- Irregular or racing heartbeat
- Heartburn, indigestion, nausea or abdominal pain
- Pain, pressure, tightness or an aching discomfort in your chest or arms, which lasts for more than a few minutes
- Shortness of breath
Advanced stroke treatment
Our hospital offers a nationally recognized stroke center that is certified by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration as a Comprehensive Stroke Center and by The Joint Commission as a Thrombectomy-Capable Stroke Center. These recognitions are a result of our effective, safe and high-quality stroke care.
Pediatric emergency care
Bringing your child to the emergency room can be frightening and stressful for you and your child. That's why our emergency team is committed to providing specialized pediatric care in a warm, welcoming environment.
We are pleased to offer this care at the Westside Forest, a private emergency room decorated in a woodland forest theme just for pediatric patients. Your child will benefit from our private rooms along with compassionate pediatric care during their medical emergency.
We also understand you play an important role in your child's health and treatment. Our emergency physicians and nurses will communicate with you every step of the way so you can make informed decisions for the health of your child.
Features of our pediatric emergency room
Our pediatric-friendly emergency room features:
- A family-friendly environment
- Access to physicians and nurses with special training and expertise in pediatric care
- Gentler medications, such as nitrous oxide as a sedation medication, for qualifying pediatric patients
- Games, coloring books and teddy bears to calm and comfort your child during their time in our emergency room
- Pediatric patient transfer as needed to our sister facility
Freestanding emergency room in Davie
In addition to our main campus, we have a second emergency room location on Nova Southeastern University's campus: Westside Regional Medical Center Emergency Services In Davie. This emergency room, in the University Park Plaza shopping center, is staffed with an expert emergency team ready to provide the same level of exceptional, rapid care as our main hospital emergency room.
Our emergency room wait times
When it comes to emergency care, our goal is to continually work toward enhancing the care you receive, while reducing our wait times. This ensures you get the care you need, when you need it most.
Our wait times are updated every 30 minutes and are available on our website and digital screens on roadside billboards throughout the region.
To find out the wait times of the HCA Florida emergency room nearest to you, check the top of our website or text "ER" to 32222.
Note: Message and data rates may apply. Emergency room wait times are approximate and provided for informational purposes only.
When to go to the emergency room
We understand it can be hard to know what type of medical care you need, like whether you should go to the emergency room or wait for your doctor's office to open.
However, we want you to feel secure about your choice for care, which is why we've created a list of symptoms that may indicate you need to visit the emergency room:
- Back pain, when it is unbearable or accompanied by fever, numbness, weakness, confusion, slurred speech, vision loss or loss of control over bladder or bowels
- Broken bones, when the pain is severe or there is a visible deformity
- Chest pain, when it is crushing or squeezing and accompanied by other heart attack symptoms, such as shortness of breath or nausea
- Concussion, when you have lost consciousness, even briefly, or experience amnesia, vomiting, slurred speech or a seizure
- Flu, when symptoms become severe, such as having trouble breathing, vomiting uncontrollably or becoming dehydrated
- Side pain, when it is severe and occurs in the lower right stomach, side or back or is accompanied by fever, nausea, diarrhea or blood in the urine
- Stomach pain, when accompanied by a hard or tender stomach, nausea, shortness of breath, fever or irregular heartbeat
- Trouble breathing, when breathing stops, is noisy or high-pitched and comes with pain in the chest or severe shortness of breath
If you are unsure if your symptoms require an emergency room visit, you can speak to a nurse 24/7 by calling our Consult-A-Nurse® team at (954) 370-5585.
What to expect at the emergency room
When you get to the emergency room, one of our triage nurses will assess your symptoms and vital signs. Next, a registration clerk will collect your insurance card (if available) and other information.
We medically screen, evaluate and stabilize all patients — whether or not they have insurance or are able to pay.
Anyone who has severe, life-threatening illnesses or injuries will be treated first. Everyone else will be treated in the order they arrive.
Before discharge, we encourage you to ask our emergency care teams any questions you have. It is also useful for you to keep all of your paperwork, discharge information and medicines or prescriptions together after you leave the emergency room.
After discharge, our emergency department staff will reach out to your primary care provider to ensure they are updated on your care.
What to bring to the emergency room
When coming to the emergency room, we recommend you bring:
- A list of medicines you currently take
- A list of known allergies
- Copies of results from recent medical tests, if available
- Personal care preferences and restrictions
- A responsible adult or phone number for someone to contact
Heart attack survivor
Safe ER care during COVID-19 at Westside Hospital
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