Emergency Department - Scott Klatt, MD

Ask A Doctor
Scott Klatt, MD
Emergency Department

Q: How do I know when I need to come to the emergency room?
A: People should feel comfortable going to the emergency room when they are sick or injured and feel they need immediate care. For anyone considering a visit to the emergency room, “emergency” can be difficult to define. I would rather have people err on the side of being safe and coming in right away rather than waiting longer than they should.

Q: What can I expect to happen when I get to the emergency department?
A: On arrival at the emergency department, you will be immediately taken back to a bed if one is available. If no beds are available the moment you arrive, you will be triaged and taken back into the emergency department when a bed becomes available. In triage, a nurse will ask questions about your illness, get a medical history and complete a basic exam. The triage process allows us to see patients in order of their “severity score” so that those in need of more urgent care will have priority over those with less severe illnesses.

Q: Do the emergency department nurses have any special training?
A: All of the registered nurses in Sonora Regional Medical Center’s emergency department are trained in Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support. In addition, 85 percent of the nurses recently went through the Trauma Nursing Core Course (TNCC) and are TNCC certified. This training helps our staff be prepared to serve our community and respond to any emergency that comes through our doors.

Q: How many patients do you see in the emergency department on a typical day and what are some common conditions for the visits?
A: We see an average of about 70 patients per day. We have two peak seasons, summer and winter, but in total we see over 25,000 patients per year. As emergency physicians and nurses we are trained to take care of everything from colds and rashes to strokes and heart attacks. The most common conditions we treat seem to be chest pain, abdominal pain, headaches, pneumonia and flu symptoms such as cough, runny nose and sore throat or nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. We also see a lot of injuries including bone fractures, muscle strains and sprains and lacerations.
 

Q: What are the most complicated conditions that can be treated in Sonora Regional Medical Center’s emergency department?
A: The Medical Center’s emergency department can treat any condition but for certain things like chest trauma, brain lesions or really sick pediatric patients we will stabilize and transfer them to a facility that has the specialty coverage to manage their treatment. We have good relationships with other hospitals that have thoracic surgeons, neurosurgeons, and pediatric intensivists and we have systems in place to transfer patients when their condition requires this specific type of care.

If you come in to the emergency department and have a condition that we are unable to manage in our hospital, we will discuss this with the patient or patient’s family and, if agreed to, contact other hospitals that have the capabilities to best care for your condition. Sometimes this takes a few hours and multiple calls to find a facility that has the services needed and a bed available.

Q: What if I visit the emergency room and my condition requires specialty care?
A: At Sonora Regional Medical Center we are fortunate to have a medical staff with specialists including cardiologists, gastroenterologists, general surgeons, ophthalmologists, orthopedic surgeons, and vascular surgeons. Should your condition require treatment from a specialist the emergency department staff will either arrange for you to be seen by the specialist at the hospital or refer you for an appointment at the specialist’s office.

Q: Will I have the same nurse the whole time I am in the emergency room? What can I expect from my nurse?
A: A registered nurse will be assigned as your primary nurse during your stay. However, your nurse may have up to three other patients. The emergency department staff has rotating shifts throughout the day so your nurse may go off shift and another will be assigned for your care. During a shift change, your primary nurse will provide a detailed report about your condition, medications or other treatments, lab tests and any other information that will be helpful for your new nurse to continue with your care.

Your nurse is responsible for your medical care and comfort. Emergency nurses carry out physician’s orders including administering medication and starting IVs but also do what they can to make their patients comfortable by providing warm blankets and something to eat and drink as appropriate.

Q: What kind of training and experience do the emergency physicians at the Medical Center have?
A: All of the emergency department physicians are board certified in emergency medicine. We have physicians who have practiced emergency medicine as long as 31 years up to our youngest who graduated from medical school at Stanford University before completing her three-year residency at the University of California, Los Angeles last year.

Q: What are some of the biggest challenges working in the emergency department?
A: Some of the biggest challenges revolve around the volume fluctuations intrinsic to the emergency department. We can be slow and a few minutes later inundated with patients. I remember one recent day we were quite slow. In about ten minutes time we had four ambulances arrive, two with active heart attacks and one unconscious patient. Within the same timeframe we had five patients walk in with more minor problems. The walk-in patients had to wait while we treated the patients with life-threatening conditions. It is frustrating to me and the team that we can’t always see patients as quickly as we would like.

Q: What is your favorite thing about being an emergency physician?
A: My favorite thing about being an emergency physician is the variety of patients and conditions I get to work on and the feeling that I can really help people acutely. I am also proud of the fact that emergency physicians and nurses treat all patients no matter who they are, their ability to pay or what time of day they come in.

Bio:
Scott Klatt, MD, came to Sonora from the Midwest in 1994. Dr. Klatt attended medical school in Cincinnati, Ohio, and completed his residency in emergency medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has served as a flight physician, emergency sideline physician for the Indianapolis Colts and worked as a physician for the Indianapolis 500.

Dr. Klatt now serves as the medical director of the emergency department at Sonora Regional Medical Center. He is married with two children who are the focus of his life outside of the hospital. He and his family enjoy the outdoors, sports and friends.