What is an Emergency Department or hospital diversion?
Diversion is a protocol for deciding when a hospital is not able to accept new patients in the emergency room from arriving ambulances. When this occurs the ambulance is diverted to a hospital that is able to receive patients in their emergency room. Typically a hospital will go on “Diversion” when there are an insufficient number of beds in the regular hospital necessary for admission by emergency room patients. In theory, the protocol attempts to prevent the shortage of beds for emergency room patients after they have been treated and need admission to regular hospital care. Gloucester County EMS will attempt to honor all hospital diversions as it is not in our patient’s best interest to be transported to a hospital experiencing a diversion. GCEMS has no ability to change a hospital’s diversion status.
