title: It's not business as usual: you can fight patient surges with an aggressive plan.
abstract: Surges in patient volume are inevitable but, nevertheless, merit an aggressive response. A well-designed plan can clear your waiting room quickly and ensure high-quality care despite high volume. Make sure your ED is adequately staffed for known high-volume periods. Use physician triage when patients back up in the waiting area. Utilize on-call physicians and nurses when necessary, even though that decision can be difficult.
mesh_terms: D003441:Crowding; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005845:Georgia; D006801:Humans; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory; D010934:Planning Techniques; D013997:Time Factors; D014218:Triage / Q000458:organization & administration