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 treatment center in St. Petersburg, Florida
When every second counts, you and your family can rely on the 24/7 emergency room (ER) at HCA Florida St. Petersburg Hospital.
Our emergency room doctors and teams deliver efficient, effective care when you need it most. Our talented teams of physicians and nurses have decades of emergency care experience and use advanced technology to diagnose and treat our patients as quickly as possible. Additionally, our emergency room wait times consistently beat the national average, meaning we can give you the treatment you need faster and more efficiently than other hospitals in the region.
High-quality emergency care
We provide advanced, patient-centered emergency care.
Features of our ER
To ensure we can get you the care you and your family need when you need it, our emergency department offers:
- Critical care We specialize in providing initial acute care for a broad spectrum of critical illnesses and injuries that require immediate attention.
- Heart attack treatment We offer advanced, 24/7 heart attack treatment, state-of-the-art cardiac monitoring and, if necessary, surgical treatments.
- Fast Track services Our Fast Track program allows us to quickly care for patients are experiencing less extreme symptoms than patients needing critical care. With this system, we can provide all patients with prompt medical attention.
- Transport Center Our transport center allows us to work collaboratively with our affiliated hospitals in the region, which all have different areas of expertise, in order to ensure all our patients receive the best possible care at the right place as quickly as possible.
- Stroke treatment As a Primary Stroke Center designated by The Joint Commission, we offer high-quality stroke treatment, 24/7. Additionally, our teleneurology program allows us to provide immediate assistance to patients experiencing stroke symptoms.
Important information
Your safety, above all else.
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 (305) 285-2929.
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
Looking for a Location?
Our Emergency care Locations
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