Emergency Room

The new ER at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

The Emergency Room (More commonly referred to as "The Pit" or the "ER") is where patients are taken in following an emergency requiring medical treatment, including transfers from other neighboring hospitals. The medical treatment required can be severe or minor, ranging from major surgery to a simple prescription.

The Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital ER is equipped with (at least) three trauma rooms, multiple cubicles and crash carts containing ALS (Advanced Life Support) drugs and equipment. There is an ambulance bay outside an entrance to the ER where staff will meet incoming ambulances.

The surgical staff at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital who are on-call for the ER will usually remain in the ER, performing scut work (usually sutures) and conducting surgical consults when requested for and by ER physicians who will then sign off the patient to the surgical team if necessary.

History

Closing

As the hospital faced bankruptcy, Alana Cahill decided to close down the ER as it was hemorrhaging resources and cost more money than it brought in. This was to appeal to potential buyers. She intended to turn the space of the ER into a hernia clinic, but the deal with Pegasus didn't come through and the Grey Sloan Seven bought the hospital instead before the transformation was completed.^[source?]

Reopening and Modernization

After the purchase of the hospital, the Harper Avery Foundation didn't make it a priority to reopen the ER, much to the dismay of the surgeons, Owen Hunt in particular. He quit, but when Jackson decided to stand up to the Foundation, he rejoined the staff and gave his input for the modernization of the ER. The new ER opened with fully functional working stations at every bed that were integrated with the new charting system of the hospital, and a Lodox scanner, a cutting-edge tool that makes full body scans in 13 seconds.^[source?]

Notable Cases in the ER

Grey's Anatomy

• Winning a Battle, Losing the War: The Dead Baby Bike Race brings in multiple patients to the ER, notably Viper.
• Into You Like a Train: A traumatic train accident brings in multiple cases for the ER, including an amputation and two patients impaled on a large metal spike.
• Owner of a Lonely Heart: A woman in solitary confinement in prison swallows five razor blades to get a day out.
• It's the End of the World/As We Know It: Meredith's nightmares come true as a bomb in a body cavity is brought in, leaving her in an awkward position, as well as Bailey's husband being brought in following a car accident while she's in labor.
• Damage Case: A car crash brings in a serious case involving a pregnant woman and a surgical intern.
• 17 Seconds/Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response: Multiple gunshot wounds fill the ER, including Preston Burke.
• Where the Boys Are: A pregnant woman in brought in with more than just a fractured wrist, as well as Harold O'Malley having more than just a fractured clavicle.
• From a Whisper to a Scream: A car crash in a market brings in multiple patients to the ER.
• Walk on Water/Drowning on Dry Land/Some Kind of Miracle: A ferry crash swamps the ER with cases, and a dispatch team is sent to the scene, but an unexpected patient is brought back from the scene.
• A Change is Gonna Come: Another car crash brings in multiple patients to the ER, one of which is a deer.
• Love/Addiction: Following an explosion in an apartment, patients are brought in with less than ideal habits.
• Kung Fu Fighting: A competition for a wedding brings in the women scorned from the competition, both of which refuse to delay the competition.
• Forever Young: A school bus crash brings in hoards of teenagers, including an old friend of Bailey's.
• Crash Into Me, Part 1: An accident in the ambulance bay endangers the life of paramedics.
• Lay Your Hands on Me: Bailey's son is brought into the ER following an accident at home.
• Freedom, Part 1 and Freedom, Part 2: The fire department work with the doctors to resolve an issue of a man encased in hardening concrete.
• Dream a Little Dream of Me: Icy conditions bring in serious injuries, including Major Owen Hunt.
• These Ties That Bind: An unhoused man crushed in a dump truck arrives as a human pretzel.

Notes and Trivia

• Traditionally, an emergency medicine head/attending runs the ER, however, Dr. Owen Hunt, as the hospital's trauma head, is the de facto leadership of the ER.
• Miranda Bailey once told her interns that the ER interns did not know the ass from the esophagus.^[source?]
• When Izzie and Bailey had no patients in their clinic, Izzie, along with Alex stole patients from the ER.^[source?]
• Callie Torres signed up for extra shifts in the ER to get extra pay after she was cut off from her trust fund and her other money from her father after he found out that she was dating a woman.
• Following Seattle Grace Mercy West's transformation into Grey Sloan Memorial, the ER has upgraded into a state-of-the-art trauma center, infusing digital technology, new equipment, and better processes resulting in an efficient and timely in-take during a crisis.^[source?]
• According to Richard, the ER at Grey Sloan sees 120,000 cases per year, out of which 5,000 are related to trauma with 22% penetrating trauma.
• Yellow trauma gowns are typically worn by doctors rotating in the ER.
• The term ER doc or ER attending is not exclusive to emergency medicine physicians; rather, it is applied to physicians regularly rotating and practicing in the ER, such as critical care physicians.
• According to Owen, the ER is at its most efficient when April is running it. Ben once said that she runs trauma on Thursdays.^[source?]
• ERs are not always synonymous with trauma centers. As in the case of Dillard Medical Center, hospitals with an ER does not mean its staff or equipment can properly handle trauma cases.
• Back in 2007, one of the trauma room sets was used on Lost.^[source?]
• The ER is equipped with The LODOX (Low-Dose Radiation X-Ray Statscanner), which was added shortly after the doctors bought the hospital. Since a full-body scan only takes 13 seconds, the resuscitation time of patients with major injuries is greatly reduced. Also, the low radiation makes imaging safer for children and pregnant people.