CrisisID

In 2005, the latest data from the Center for Disease Control, approximately one-fifth of the U.S. population had made one or more ED visits within the past 12 months. From 1996 through 2006 the number of hospitals EDs decreased from 4,019 to 3,833, thus added to the annual number of visits per ED.

Under normal conditions, on average most patients would see a physician in less than an hour with 70% spending less than 4 hours at the ED. But what happens when a deepening of the swine flu (H1N1) forces additional school closings in the United States. According to the New York Daily News the wait for care at some hospital emergency rooms was growing dramatically - up to 10 hours in some places.

So what are some of the things you can do?

• Put the phone numbers for the hospitals, urgent care facilities and quick care facilities in your area in your cell phone memory. Call ahead requesting wait times.
• Know the level of care that hospitals in your area can provide. Some hospitals are staffed with specialists 24/7; most however will have specialists on a system of rotating call-in.
•  Include the phone numbers for your primary care provider in you cell phone memory.
•  Check in with the triage nurse on duty as soon as you can. Triage nurses are the air traffic controller of the ED and your scheduler to getting seen as quickly as possible.
• If possible avoid the ED between 4 p.m. and 1 a.m., the busiest shift. For the shortest wait, early morning — anywhere from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. — is your best bet.
• Come prepared have a summarized history of your health information. At minimum have a list of current medications (including over-the-counter), allergies, recent illness, surgeries and other health events.

Your personal health information is a valuable resource for you, your loved ones and the healthcare providers that provide your treatment and care. Your keeping a Personal Health Record (PHR) allows you to provide doctors with valuable information that can help improve the quality of care you receive. A PHR can help reduce or eliminate duplicate tests and allow you to receive faster, safer treatment and care in an emergency. In addition to emergencies a PHR will give you more intimate knowledge of your health information allowing you to play a more active role in your preventive care and care management.

At CrisisID we provide a PHR which is Internet-based. Through this service, you can access a private PHR account by connecting to the Internet and logging in with a unique user name and password. Your information is easily entered in preformed forms and is easily updated. You have direct and complete control of how the information is used and with whom it is shared. One of the major advantages of CrisisID is the availability of the information in both emergency and nonemergency situations. Vital information can now be made available simultaneously at the scene of an accident and at the triage center or centers. Having immediate access to health history can be life saving.