Frequently Asked Questions

Emergency Patients: Frequently Asked Questions

Hospital admission via the emergency department is often associated with many questions: Why does it take so long? Who is my contact person? Why do I need a patient wristband? Why is someone being treated before me? and many other questions that we would like to answer here. 

Pre-admission

Yes, please call and speak to the emergency department: 044 934 11 11.

Your first contact point for non-life-threatening illnesses and accidents is your GP. If your GP is not available, call the free cantonal number for the GP emergency service, the Ärztefon [Doctor’s Phone], on 0800 33 66 55.

If you have any questions in an urgent emergency situation, please contact the GZO emergency department: 044 934 11 11.

No. Please contact your GP, if this is not possible, then call the cantonal Ärztefon [Doctor’s Phone] on 0800 33 66 55.

  • Please call 044 934 11 11 to register.

  • Bring your health insurance card, your medication list and advance directive (if available).

  • If you do not speak German well, bring along somebody who can interpret.

  • Somebody should accompany you to the hospital. A relative may also stay on site (unless isolation is required).

  • Please leave your valuables at home.

Please note that hospital doctors do not know your medical history. They may only issue a prescription if they know your background and have assessed your condition. This requires a consultation and examination. If there is a large number of patients, you may be required to wait for a long time.

If you are bringing an emergency patient, drive directly to the front of the emergency department and allow the patient to get out there. You can then park in one of the paid car parks. If all the spaces are filled, park up briefly in the driveway and ask at reception.

Triage and Treatment

In a medical context, it describes the classification of patients according to the severity of their injuries. This makes it easier for doctors and nurses to decide who should be treated first.

 

A specially-trained, experienced emergency nurse interviews the patient and assesses their state of health. Important criteria are the condition of the airways, breathing and circulation. This is carried out according to the classification of the Australasian Triage Scale (ATS).

  • First, triage is carried out by an experienced emergency nurse.

  • Personal data is recorded for administrative purposes.

  • Patients then receive a patient wristband.

  • Severe cases go straight to the emergency room (ER).

  • Urgent cases are given a bed in the emergency department.

  • Less urgent cases wait in the waiting area until medical staff are available.

  • When the emergency GP practice is open (evening/weekends), cases will be treated there.

  • The doctor makes a record of the patient’s medical history and decides which examinations will be necessary.

  • Examinations are carried out by nursing staff or coordinated with the respective departments (laboratory, X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, etc.).

  • The results of the examinations are evaluated by medical staff when they are available. They consult their superiors or specialists if required. If the examination does not produce a clear result, further examinations may be requested.

  • The diagnosis and treatment are discussed with the patient.

  • Depending on the diagnosis, the patient is discharged, admitted or transferred to another hospital.

  • Emergency medications are given on site, and a prescription is issued for other medications at the pharmacy.

Patients whose condition is considered by triage to be acute or life-threatening receive immediate medical attention. In urgent cases, the first contact with medical staff takes place within 30 minutes. In less urgent cases, the waiting time can be up to 2 hours or even longer depending on the number of patients.

The more severe the condition, the more important a quick response is. The principle of “worst in first out” is therefore applied to emergency admissions. The order is therefore determined by medical urgency, not the time of registration – a patient with a serious condition may be given priority over a patient with less acute problems at any time.

Although the length of stay may seem long to you as a patient, you may not be aware of the hectic daily routine in the emergency department: It is important to know that our team is always working actively and efficiently behind the scenes to move treatments forward – for you and your fellow patients. The following factors affect the duration of your stay in the emergency department:

After the initial contact with the doctor, including questioning and examinations, the next diagnostic steps are initiated, which may include blood tests, X-rays or ultrasound examinations. The examinations often complement each other. This means that one examination step leads to the next.
For example: The first step required may be a blood test. Depending on which values are required, it may take over an hour for them to be available. The results will define the next step, for example, a computer tomography may be performed. Your stay extends with this chain of successive examinations and their subsequent evaluations.

We have a limited amount of examination resources and staff at our disposal, which we use as efficiently as possible. For example, if you need a computer tomography, this will be logged immediately – but you may have to wait until the machine and the specialist personnel are available. This may be the case, for example, if your examination has to be postponed between scheduled appointments or if more urgent cases are brought forward. In the event of bottlenecks, we look for solutions to carry out less urgent examinations later in the department or as part of a planned outpatient visit.

When patients who are seriously ill or in a critical condition arrive at the emergency department, they are treated first. If this requires many resources, the treatment of less urgent problems may be delayed.

We consider the GP blood results as much as possible in our assessments. However, further tests are needed in the following cases:

  • If we need additional values. GZO Spital Wetzikon can perform a wider range of laboratory tests than GPs.

  • If we need more conclusive results. The GZO laboratory modern analysis equipment produces accurate results, enabling reliable diagnoses.

Analysis carried out by the modern equipment in the GZO laboratory is considerably more complex than can be performed in the average GP practice. In GP practices, results are often available within a few minutes: simple analytical methods provide fast, but less diagnostically conclusive results. In the GZO laboratory, more sophisticated analytical methods are used. Some values require more than an hour to be determined. However, they are more precise, enabling more reliable diagnoses

Your stay in the emergency department

Yes, one person can accompany you to the emergency department - as long as isolation is not required.

 

The time until discharge or hospital admission varies depending on examinations required and the number of patients. More detailed information on the course and duration of treatment can be found in the section “Triage and Treatment”.

There are toilets in the emergency ward for patients. Relatives are requested to use the toilets in the hospital lobby.

Of course. Stay in touch with your family and find out more, e.g. about the GZO emergency department. However, we ask you to refrain from taking photos and videos in the emergency department for the following reasons:

  • Respect: Please respect the privacy and the need for rest of your fellow patients who are being treated in your immediate vicinity.

  • Protection of personal rights: Filming or taking photographs of individuals without their express consent violates personal rights and is generally not permitted. Of course, this also applies to fellow patients, their relatives and employees of GZO Spital Wetzikon.

  • The interior of the hospital is not a public space: Permission from the hospital administration is required to film or take photographs in examination rooms, patient rooms or cubicles etc.

Patients in the emergency department have access to public WiFi free of charge.

This depends on your condition. Please ask the nursing staff.

Yes, please ask the nursing staff.

The nurse responsible for you will introduce themselves and explain their role. Nursing staff will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Use the bell to call someone.

Yes, please ask the nursing staff – we will be happy to bring you an extra blanket.

That depends on your insurance class.

No.

All patients admitted to the GZO Spital Wetzikon emergency department are given a wristband. It is used for reliable identification in certain situations, such as when the patient is unable to personally provide information. Several countries have already introduced mandatory patient wristbands in order to avoid mix-ups. Hospital staff who do not know you personally use the bracelet for reliable identification. The following information can be found on the patient wristband:

  • Surname and first name

  • Date of birth

  • Internal case number (FID) with a machine-readable barcode

  • Internal Patient Identification Number (PID)

Please wear this wristband for the duration of your hospital stay. If it gets dirty or is destroyed or no longer legible for any other reason, it will be replaced with a new wristband. At the end of your stay, you can take the wristband with you and dispose of it securely – please note that your personal details are stated on the wristband.

If you have any questions, please ask the nursing staff responsible for you.

About the Emergency Services

  • The emergency department is for patients with acute, serious health problems.

  • Patients with non-urgent health problems should contact their GP.

  • Patients who are unsure whether it is a medical emergency can call the emergency department (GZO main number 044 934 11 11).

  • During the day: When patients with minor health problems come to the emergency department, they are not turned away, but are examined and treated in the emergency department. However, they can expect to wait a long time.

  • When GP practices are closed (evening/weekends), patients with health problems can come to the emergency department. Triage will be carried out and depending on your condition, you will either be assigned to the emergency department or to the emergency GP practice.

 

Heart problems; persistent, severe chest pain; shortness of breath; danger of suffocation; signs of paralysis; allergic reactions; circulatory problems; broken bones; severe bleeding that cannot be stopped; acute, severe pain. Patients should call the emergency department in case of any uncertainty.

Kontakt

Urgent emergency

Call the emergency services:

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Answer the following questions:

  • What has happened?

  • Where did it happen?

  • How many people are affected?

  • Who is calling?

Should I come to the GZO emergency ward?

If you are unsure, please ask the doctor's telephone for advice first:

0800 33 66 55

Illness and accident

Your first point of contact is your family doctor. If your family doctor is not available, dial the ÄrzteFon. The number is free of charge and available around the clock every day.

0800 33 66 55

Children's emergency

In the event of a life-threatening emergency, call the emergency services:

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For NON life-threateningemergencies: First try to reach your pediatrician. If he or she is not available, call the doctor's hotline:

0800 33 66 55

In case of poisoning, contact the Toxicology Center:

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Rettungsdienst

Bei lebensbedrohlichen Notfällen.

Krankheit und Unfall

Bei NICHT lebensbedrohlichen Notfällen ist Ihr Hausarzt oder Kinderarzt die erste Anlaufstelle. Falls der Hausarzt oder Kinderarzt nicht erreichbar ist, wählen Sie das ÄrzteFon. Wählen Sie bitte auch zunächst das Ärztephone, wenn Sie unsicher sind ob Sie zur GZO Notfallstation kommen sollen.

0800 33 66 55

Die Nummer ist kostenlos und jeden Tag rund um die Uhr erreichbar.

Vergiftungen

Bei Vergiftungen Toxikologisches Zentrum kontaktieren.