The OCH Emergency Department is a 19-bed unit that services a seven-county area in and around Mississippi's Golden Triangle.  The Emergency Department provides for the immediate needs of those residents that require emergency medical care.  We strive to provide the most current and effective treatments for medical or traumatic complaints.  Our aim is to save life and limb and provide this care with the best possible facilities, equipment and staff.

Services for emergency medical care are provided twenty-four hours per day.  We provide access to not only Emergency Department staff but also OCH Medical Staff specialists.  These specialists include, but are not limited to, General Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology, Pulmonology, Critical Care, Opthalmology, Otolaryngology as well as General Practice Medicine.

OCH's Emergency Department is designated as a Level III Trauma Center in the Mississippi Department of Health Trauma Network.

The Emergency Department is located on the front of the hospital directly accessible from Hospital Road.  The ambulance entrance is also accessible from Hospital Road and clearly identified as Ambulance Only.  The OCH Helipad has been in use since August 2008 and is located next to the ambulance bay. 

The Emergency Department is staffed with an around-the-clock emergency physician.  Additionally, a Nurse Practitioner is available.  The emergency department has a total of 27 full and part-time Registered Nurses.  We also employ 12 full and part-time Emergency Department Technicians.  All RN's are required to obtain Basic Life Support, Adult Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support as well as Trauma Nurse Core Curriculum certifications.  Physicians are certified in Advanced Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and Advanced Trauma Life Support.

The Emergency Department requires no appointment.  Patients are admitted through the admission area located via the emergency entrance directly off Hospital Road.  Patients are also admitted to the Emergency Department via Ambulance.  Patients are admitted based on complaint or injury status.  Those patients with the most serious problems are seen first, others are seen first come, first served. 

The OCH Emergency Departments admits approximatley 25,000 people annually.