Cobequid Community Health Centre (Lower Sackville)
40 Freer Lane
DIRECTIONS

Dartmouth General Hospital (Dartmouth)
325 Pleasant Street
DIRECTIONS

Eastern Shore Memorial Hospital (Sheet Harbour)
22637, Highway 7
DIRECTIONS

Halifax Infirmary (QEII, Halifax)
1799 Robie Street
DIRECTIONS

Hants Community Hospital (Windsor)
89 Payzant Drive
DIRECTIONS

IWK Health Centre (Halifax)
5980 University Ave (Emergency Entrance is on the South Street Side)
DIRECTIONS

Musquodoboit Valley Memorial Hospital (Middle Musquodoboit)
492 Archibald Brook Road, RR2
DIRECTIONS

Twin Oaks Memorial Hospital (Musquodoboit Harbour)
7704 7 Highway
DIRECTIONS

Buchanan Memorial Community Health Centre (Neils Harbour)
32610 Cabot Trail
DIRECTIONS

Cape Breton Regional Hospital (Sydney)
1482 George Street
DIRECTIONS

Eastern Memorial Hospital (Canso)
1746 Union Street
DIRECTIONS

Glace Bay Hospital (Glace Bay)
300 South Street
DIRECTIONS

Guysborough Memorial Hospital (Guysborough)
10560 Rte #16
DIRECTIONS

Inverness Consolidated Memorial Hospital (Inverness)
39 James Street
DIRECTIONS

New Waterford Consolidated Hospital (New Waterford)
716 King Street
DIRECTIONS

Northside General Hospital (North Sydney)
520 Purves Street
DIRECTIONS

Sacred Heart Community Health Centre (Cheticamp)
15102 Cabot Trail
DIRECTIONS

St. Martha’s Regional Hospital (Antigonish)
25 Bay Street
DIRECTIONS

St. Mary’s Memorial Hospital (Sherbrooke, Guysborough Co.)
91 Hospital Road
DIRECTIONS

Strait Richmond Hospital (Cleveland, Richmond Co.)
138 Hospital Road, Evanston
DIRECTIONS

Victoria County Memorial Hospital (Baddeck)
30 Old Margaree Road
DIRECTIONS

Aberdeen Hospital (New Glasgow)
835 East River Road
DIRECTIONS

All Saints Springhill Hospital (Springhill)
10 Princess Street
DIRECTIONS

Colchester East Hants Health Centre (Truro)
600 Abenaki Road
DIRECTIONS

Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre (Amherst)
19428 Highway #2, R. R. #6
DIRECTIONS

Lillian Fraser Memorial Hospital (Tatamagouche)
This location no longer offers an emergecny department.  You can learn more about NSH Urgent Treatment Centres here.

110 Blair Avenue
DIRECTIONS

North Cumberland Memorial Hospital (Pugwash)
260 Gulf Shore Road
DIRECTIONS

South Cumberland Community Care Centre (Parrsboro)
This location no longer offers an emergecny department.  You can learn more about NSH Urgent Treatment Centres here.

Annapolis Community Health Centre (Annapolis Royal)
821 St. George Street
DIRECTIONS

Digby General Hospital (Digby)
75 Warwick Street
DIRECTIONS

Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital (Lunenburg)
14 High Street
DIRECTIONS

Queens General Hospital (Liverpool)
175 School St
DIRECTIONS

Roseway Hospital (Shelburne)
1606 Lake Road
DIRECTIONS

Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (Middleton)
462 Main Street
DIRECTIONS

South Shore Regional Hospital (Bridgewater)
90 Glen Allan Drive
DIRECTIONS

Valley Regional Hospital (Kentville)
150 Exhibition Street
DIRECTIONS

Yarmouth Regional Hospital (Yarmouth)
60 Vancouver Street
DIRECTIONS

The first person you’ll see when you arrive in one of our emergency departments is a triage paramedic or nurse.

Triage staff will ask you questions about what’s brought you here. They will also ask about existing health conditions and any medications you are taking. They will check your breathing, pulse blood pressure and temperature too.

Once triage staff have gathered your information and measured your vital signs, they will assign you a score between one and five. This affects the order in which you are seen.

We use the Canadian Triage Acuity Scale (CTAS) to assess people who come to our emergency departments. CTAS is used across Canada as the standard triage system in emergency medicine.

Level 1: Life-threatening

Common examples:

• Your heart has stopped or you’ve experienced a life-threatening trauma. You’ve likely come in by ambulance. You will receive treatment right away.

Level 2: Emergency
Common examples
You are:

• having symptoms of a heart attack or stroke
• not conscious
• having a lot of trouble breathing 
• bleeding severely

Level 3: Urgent
Common examples
You are experiencing:

• head injury, deep cut or foreign object in eyes/ears 
• chest pain (not related to known heart problem) 
• signs of serious infection 
• urgent mental health concerns

Level 4: Less urgent
Common examples

• You have back, arm or leg pain (breaks/sprains) or cuts.

Level 5: Not urgent
Common examples

• You have a sore throat, ear infection, minor cuts or bumps, or need a prescription refill.

Emergency department wait times depend on:

• How urgently you and others need care. 
• How busy the emergency department is. 
• Once you have been assessed, you may need to have further tests (e.g. x-rays or lab tests) or be seen by a specialist. 

Patients are seen by a doctor in order of need. 

It is not always possible to tell how ill someone is by looking at them. 

A patient who appears ok may need attention right away. 

Some patients need to be seen by a specialist, such as a neurologist or a cardiologist. If this specialist is available, their patient will be brought in to see him or her.

In some emergency departments, people with minor injuries can be treated in a different area, either inside or outside of the department.

If an ambulance brings in a patient who needs immediate life-saving care (Level 1), that patient will be brought directly into the emergency department for care. 

The waiting room could be almost empty, yet someone is receiving life-saving care within the department.

Patients who arrive by ambulance are triaged like other patients. 

If an ambulance brings in a patient who needs immediate life-saving care (Level 1), that patient will be brought directly into the emergency department for care. 

Otherwise, they will wait for care according to their triage level, the same as other patients. 

• For non-urgent matters, your family practice or a local walk-in clinic may be a more appropriate place for care. You’ll also likely have a shorter wait.
• If you do not have a family practice, call 811 or visit www.needafamilypractice.ca to join a provincial wait list. 
• Call 811 to speak with a registered nurse and get advice on non-urgent medical matters. This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 
• Make sure that you and your family have enough prescribed medication, especially over vacations, holidays and weekends. 
• Your community pharmacist may offer advice on non-urgent medication matters.
• If you have a chronic illness, keep your regular appointments with your doctor.
• Ask your doctor what changes in your medical condition would need urgent medical attention.
• If you decide to leave the emergency department without being seen, please let our triage staff know.

Canadian residents: If you have a valid provincial health card, most services you receive in hospital are paid for by your respective provincial health insurance program. Please be prepared to present your health card when you arrive. For more information, visit:  https://www.nshealth.ca/fees-and-bill-payments

Out-of-country visitors: If you are not a Canadian resident with a valid health card, you are responsible for the cost of your health care and in certain circumstances, may be required to pay for services in advance. For more information, visit https://www.nshealth.ca/fees-and-bill-payments

If you need help immediately, call 911. To access the mental health mobile crisis team call 902-429-8167 or toll-free at 1-888-429-8167. This is a 24 hour, seven days a week phone service to help you or your loved one cope with mental health and addiction challenges in the moment. 

For a list of emergency departments in Nova Scotia, visit: https://www.nshealth.ca/emergency-departments-and-cecs-nova-scotia

Emergency health care is a part of a complex and increasingly integrated network of health services that includes our two tertiary care Academic Health Science Centre EDs (Halifax Infirmary and IWK), several regional referral Hospitals with full-service Emergency Departments (EDs), and multiple community and rural access points for acute/unexpected health care, all networked together as a single system. 

This single system is supported by our provincial 911 emergency health services (EHS) response system made up of the ground and air ambulance programs which are coordinated by a sophisticated state-of-the-art communications center.

Whether you arrive by ambulance or on your own, a triage nurse or paramedic will ask you several questions assess your condition. Patients are seen by a doctor in order of need. 

If you need help immediately, call 911.

To access the mental health mobile crisis team call 902-429-8167 or toll-free at 1-888-429-8167. This is a 24 hour, seven days a week phone service to help you or your loved one cope with mental health and addiction challenges in the moment.