Emergency Services

Emergency

Benewah Community Hospital’s Emergency Department is open 24-hours a day, 7 days a week for healthcare emergencies.

Our Staff

Our ER staff are trained to take care of acutely ill and injured patients. For patients who are very sick, our job is to treat and stabilize patients before transfer to a larger hospital where more advanced care is available. Our Providers and Nursing staff are certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS).

If you’re unsure whether your situation requires emergency care, call the nurses station at (208) 245-7623. If you are experiencing a severe emergency, don’t wait. Call 911 or present to the hospital emergency room immediately.

Emergencies and Calling 911

A Health Care Emergency is an injury or serious illness that is a threat to life, limb, or eyesight. For example, people who are having chest pain, or can’t move an arm or leg, or have eye injuries, or cuts that need stiches, are all having Health Care Emergencies. There are many other possible Health Care Emergencies.

If you are having a potential Health Care Emergency, act quickly.

  • Recognize your Symptoms – Don’t wait too long to be seen!
  • Call 911 as soon as possible.
  • Rapid diagnosis and treatment at a hospital can be life saving.

Calling 911 for Emergency Medical Services

911 is a life-saving service. If you are sick or injured, your condition could get worse on the way to the hospital. Moving a person who has suffered a serious injury can worsen the injury. Emergency Medical Service (EMS) crews are trained to help in these situations. For example, they can move patients safely, provide oxygen support, perform CPR correctly and efficiently, or assess stroke symptoms and call ahead to the Hospital so that care is ready when you arrive.

Why does BCH Transfer Patients?

We transfer patients from our ER when we do not have the resources to care for them properly. They may need advanced testing that we do not have available. Conditions such as a heart attack requires treatment by a heart specialist. Some complex injuries require treatment by a surgical specialist.

Taking Care of Critical Patients awaiting Transfer Services

Our ER staff do critical work while they wait for a helicopter or ambulance to transfer critical patients to a bigger hospital. Diagnostic testing, blood transfusion, and life-saving medications are a few examples of how we treat and stabilize patients needing transferred for specialty services.

Critical Care Transport Services

Life Flight
For Life Flight Network membership information, call: 1-800-574-9464.

Visitors

Visitors are welcome, but because the emergency department can oftentimes be fast-paced, so it may be best if family members and friends wait in the lobby while their loved one is being treated. Our admitting and nursing staff will do their best to accommodate for you and your family.