24/7 Emergency Care
Rochelle Community Hospital provides state-of-the-art emergency care to patients and their families 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As a Level III Emergency department, our Emergency Room physicians and ACLS certified nurses are available ’round the clock. We have a total of seven exam rooms, which includes two trauma rooms and one triage room.
Sometimes it is hard to tell if you should go to RCH Convenient Care or the Emergency Room. A good rule of thumb: If it is something you would normally go to your physician for, but your physician isn’t available (or you don’t have a physician), go to RCH Convenient Care. If you need treatment right away, any time of day, come to the Emergency Room. Trouble breathing, chest pain, stroke symptoms are just a few things that would warrant a trip to the Emergency Room.
- When you arrive, you will meet with a triage nurse who will ask you some basic questions – why you came to the Emergency Room, a brief medical history and what medications you are currently taking. We will also take your vitals such as weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature.
- Based on your level of illness or injury, you will be taken to an exam room or asked to wait in the waiting room for a few minutes where our nurses will check on you until a room opens up.
- Once you are in the exam room, you will be asked to change into a gown and examined by our nurses and ER physicians. Tests and treatments will be ordered based on your symptoms.
- After a diagnosis is made, your emergency care team will determine if you can be discharged or if you need to be admitted for additional care.
If you think you’re having a heart attack… CALL 9-1-1. Do not try to drive yourself to RCH or another facility farther away.
Seconds count when it comes to your heart. RCH is prepared and equipped to handle heart attacks – giving you the best chance to return to normal, everyday life. When you arrive at the hospital, you will receive an immediate EKG and phlebotomy which will tell us if a heart attack is actually in progress. If you are, clot-busting drugs will be given to stabilize you and prepare you for transfer. We aim to have all heart attack patients transferred to a higher level of cardiac care within 60 minutes.
If you believe you are having a stroke, CALL 9-1-1! Do not try to drive yourself to RCH or another facility farther away.
Rochelle Community Hospital has been designated as an Emergent Stroke Ready Hospital (ERSH) by the Illinois Department of Public Health. This designation assures that all stroke patients have access to rapid care.
During a stroke, each second a patient waits to be treated denies the brain of blood and oxygen. The cells and tissues within the brain begin to die, possibly causing irreversible damage. Disabilities associated with strokes include paralysis on one side of the body and loss of speech.
Members of the community can rest assured that they will receive the highest quality treatment locally.
Our Emergency Room physicians are part of Envision and are Board certified in Emergency Medicine. That means you are receiving the same quality treatment you would get from physicians in one of healthcare’s premier teaching hospitals… without the travel.
Our nurses receive year-round continuous education and maintain certifications in:
- Basic Life Support (BLS)
- Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
- Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP)
- Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
- Trauma Nurse Core Curriculum/Emergency Nursing Pediatric Course (TNCC/ENPC) or Trauma Nurse Specialist (TNS).