Emergency Medicine

Expert Emergency Care When You Need It Most

In an emergency situation, seconds and minutes can make the difference between life and death. When you or a loved one needs emergency care, Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport’s Department of Emergency Medicine is here to help.

Our Academic Medical Center in Shreveport is the region’s only Level I Trauma Center, verified by the American College of Surgeons. As a Level I Trauma Center, we have all the resources needed to stabilize and treat the most complex traumatic injuries. We treat patients from throughout Louisiana, as well as east Texas and south Arkansas, who need advanced care for critical injuries and illnesses. Our Monroe Medical Center is also equipped to handle trauma patient care and has been designated a Level III Trauma Program by the Louisiana Emergency Response Network (LERN). Our trauma surgeons, emergency doctors and intensive care doctors are available 24 hours a day. Learn more about our trauma care.

When to Go to the Emergency Department

It’s essential to get help right away for life-threatening medical conditions. Call 911 immediately or get to your nearest emergency room or department if you or a loved one has any of the following symptoms or injuries:

• Difficulty breathing or severe allergic reaction
• Loss of consciousness
• Major bleeding
• Major head trauma
• Severe chest pain
• Severe allergic reaction
• Severe burn
• Sudden vision loss or trouble seeing
• Symptoms of a stroke (muscle weakness, trouble speaking or understanding language, sudden blurry vision or loss of vision, sudden dizziness or severe headache with no known cause)

We encourage you to visit Ochsner LSU Urgent Care to get help quickly for urgent but non-life-threatening conditions, such as:

• Coughs, colds and sore throats
• Earaches
• Fever or flu-like symptoms
• Mild to moderate stomachaches
• Minor burns, rashes, sunburns and heat ailments
• Non-life-threatening allergic reactions
• Rashes or other skin irritations
• Select immunizations
• Sprains, broken bones and fractures needing X-rays
• Urinary pain

Caring for Our Community

Because we are part of an academic medical center, we are heavily involved in teaching the next generation of emergency medicine doctors. Our Emergency Medicine/Family Practice Residency program lets our residents specialize in both emergency medicine and practice. We are one of only three such programs in the United States, and our team provides much-needed medical care to residents of Shreveport and the surrounding rural areas.

We work closely with emergency and first responders, such as the Shreveport Fire Department and Caddo Parish Emergency Medical Services to care and treat for incoming patients, as well as coordinate injury prevention classes within the community at local schools.