Emergency Medicine

Hospitals in Custer, Lead-Deadwood, Rapid City, Spearfish and Sturgis provide 24/7 emergency medical services.

The Emergency Departments at all five locations treat injuries, illnesses that are immediately life-threatening and other emergent conditions of both adult and pediatric patients. Teams of doctors, registered nurses, advanced providers and other specially trained staff are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to treat anyone seeking emergency medical care. Each year, Monument Health providers see more than 75,000 patients in the emergency care setting.

Depending upon a pediatric patient’s condition and need for medical or surgical subspecialty care in a hospital setting, they may be transferred to one of the children’s hospitals in that area for treatment.

Care providers evaluate people who come to the Emergency Department and determine the severity of their current condition. The emergency care provider can hospitalize people who need immediate care or, if needed, have physicians from other medical and surgical specialties who are on-call aid in determining a plan of care for the patient, while the patient is in the emergency room. For others, the provider can recommend outpatient diagnostic or physician evaluation options to address health issues. Staff in the Department of Emergency Medicine are unable to refer you to other Monument Hospital providers for nonemergency conditions. However, the Emergency Department is required by law to treat you.

When patients are discharged from the emergency department, they are given recommendations for any follow-up care that may be needed. Often, the emergency medicine physician will recommend that patients see their primary care providers in follow-up. Patients should refer to their discharge instructions.

People with chronic- or long-standing health conditions should understand that a visit to an emergency department may not result in an appointment in another Monument Health specialty department or division.

The most common reasons for care include chest pain, respiratory distress, occupational injuries, sprains and fractures, drug overdoses, abdominal pain, injuries from motor-vehicle accidents, seizure disorders, irregular heartbeat, lacerations, eye injuries and sepsis.