Emergency Care

Our emergency room services

With access to radiology services, diagnostic testing, in-house laboratories, neurosurgery, intensive care units as well as surgical and cardiac services, our ER is always ready to treat the minor as well as the major accidents and illnesses. Our ER staff provide care for a variety of emergency conditions, including:

• Abdominal pain: Especially if it’s severe and possibly indicative of appendicitis, an abdominal aneurysm, or other serious conditions.
• Breathing difficulties: Including asthma attacks, severe allergic reactions, and pulmonary embolism.
• Broken bones and severe sprains: Particularly if there is a visible deformity, severe pain, numbness, or an inability to move the affected limb.
• Burns: Especially if they are deep, involve a large area of the body, or are on the face, hands, feet, or genitals.
• Dehydration or heat stroke: Especially if symptoms include extreme thirst, absence of urination, or altered mental status.
• Heart attacks: Symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, and discomfort in other areas of the upper body.
• High fevers: Especially in infants, young children, the elderly, or those with weakened immune systems.
• Obstetric emergencies: Like heavy bleeding during pregnancy, severe abdominal pain, or signs of premature labor.
• Poisoning or drug overdose: Including accidental ingestion of toxins or overdose of prescription or non-prescription drugs.
• Psychiatric emergencies: Such as suicidal thoughts or behaviors, severe panic attacks, or psychotic episodes.
• Seizures: Especially if it’s a first-time seizure, or the seizures are prolonged or recurrent.
• Severe bleeding: Cases where bleeding does not stop after 10 minutes of direct pressure.
• Severe headaches: Particularly if they are sudden in onset, very intense, or accompanied by other symptoms like visual changes or stiffness in the neck.
• Severe infections: Like sepsis, pneumonia, and serious urinary tract infections.
• Strokes: Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body; confusion; trouble speaking or understanding speech; vision problems; loss of balance or coordination.
• Trauma/serious injuries: Such as from car accidents, falls, or severe blows to the head.

When to go to the ER

Below are symptoms of life-threatening or critical emergencies that indicate an ER visit is necessary:

• Chest pain or pressure
• Coughing or vomiting blood
• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Heart attack
• Heavy or uncontrollable bleeding
• Seizures
• Sudden confusion
• Sudden or excessive pain
• Sudden vision changes
• Suicidal thoughts
• Unconsciousness
• Upper abdominal pain or pressure

Please call 911 if you or someone else is experiencing any of these conditions or symptoms.

What to expect at our ER

While our ER wait times are often below the national average, it is important to note that wait times are highly dependent on what is happening behind the scenes. When a patient arrives, their first stop is triage – a word we use to prioritize each patient’s condition. Triage nurses at the front desk determine if the situation is immediately life-threatening; urgent, but not life threatening; and less urgent. We recognize that every condition is important, but to save lives, we must prioritize based on emergent, urgent and traumatic situations.

Following initial triage, you are checked-in and your vitals are taken. Up until you are placed in a room, our front triage nurses continuously monitor patients and will adjust if a patient’s condition changes. Once in a room, our emergency-department nurses gather more detailed information; thereafter, an emergency-medicine physician obtains more specific information and may formulate a differential diagnosis. Tests may be ordered to help confirm or rule out a diagnosis. It is at this moment a patient is ‘seeing’ multiple doctors at once. Examples may include a radiologist, a general surgeon, neurologist, a gastroenterologist or other specialty physician who is part of the emergency medical team.

The vast array of people caring for patients in an emergency department can be confusing and often people do not know why they are just in a room waiting. Many specialists are not visitors in your emergency room, but rather behind the scene reading diagnostic reports and consulting with the emergency medicine team. It can take some time to rule out certain conditions and make a diagnosis.

While you are in our care and we deem you to be in stable condition, it is important to know that if another patient presents with a life-threatening condition, our first goal is to save lives. Unlike an urgent care or a wellness visit, our emergency department cannot operate on a first come first serve scenario; we must continuously monitor, adjust and make a decision about every patient in our care.

As we put all the medical pieces together concerning your condition, you may be admitted, discharged, given follow-up instructions to see a primary care physician or transferred to another medical facility. Our goal is to treat emergent, urgent and traumatic conditions; we do not prescribe narcotics for chronic conditions.

Should I go to the emergency room or urgent care?

Community health care (urgent care) and primary care providers may be more appropriate for the following conditions:

• Colds and flu symptoms
• Medication management
• Minor cuts
• Non-traumatic, chronic conditions
• Rashes
• Sinus pain
• Skin and wound infections
• Sore throats
• Toothaches

Please note that we do not handle medication refills.

Emergency air transport

Portneuf’s legacy for providing quality air transportation to those who unexpectedly find themselves threated by life’s unforeseen situations dates back to 1983. Portneuf Medical Center via Bannock Regional started the first air ambulance service in the state of Idaho. Since its inception in 1983, Portneuf has flown thousands of flights within Idaho, Wyoming and Utah, responding to emergencies in various terrains, weather and critical situations. 

Portneuf Medical Center is proud to partner with Classic Air to provide rotor and fixed wing critical care air medical transports to Idaho and Wyoming. To learn more about Classic Air , click HERE. We are dedicated to providing quality care in the air and in our emergency department. Our emergency team delivers exceptional emergency care from the minute 911 is called until that individual is admitted to our ER.

Level II Trauma Center

Portneuf’s emergency department and trauma center is available 24 hours a day and ready to respond to trauma situations that may involve multiple injuries. We know that trauma often involves different organs and the care of such often requires diagnostic resources and a comprehensive medical team trained to care for injuries to the neck, abdomen, chest, vascular systems and extremities. 

While our trauma team excels in the care of patient with injuries, burns, complex wounds, infections, head and neck injuries and critical care surgery, our surgical team also offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient elective and general surgical services. As a regional referral trauma center of excellence, we are building partnerships throughout the area so we can assist, consult, educate, establish protocols, transport and care for trauma needs in the region.

Being a trauma patient at Portneuf means you get a team approach to care. Your care team will include:

• Hospitalist
• Laboratory technicians
• Nursing staff
• Nutrition specialists
• Radiologists
• Specialized in-house physicians
• Surgeons
• Trauma physicians

About Level II Trauma Centers

Level II trauma center status is a verification granted by the American College of Surgeons. We maintain our trauma center verification by providing round-the-clock coverage for all trauma emergencies, performing rigorous performance improvement and patient safety and offering trauma outreach education. 

It is important to note that all hospital emergency rooms are not equally staffed to care for internal injuries, head injuries, heart attacks, strokes and spinal cord injuries. Non-designated trauma center emergency departments may only be staffed by an emergency physician and most likely do not have a trauma team ready to respond. 

Designated trauma center emergency departments must follow strict requirements for staffing, specialist availability, response times, training, quality improvement and community education. And most importantly, trauma centers must have a high level surgical care team available to respond to trauma 24 hours a day.

Emergency Care Locations

Urgent Care Locations