1. Surprising Benefits of Sex Slideshow Pictures
2. Take the Quiz: The Human Body
3. Causes of Fatigue Slideshow Pictures

Medical Author:

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD

Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.

View Full Profile

Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

View Full Profile

What you should bring to the hospital is very important for your care. The following is a brief list of items you should have immediately available if you need to go to an emergency department or if an elective admission occurs:

1. Identification (driver's license, student ID) and emergency contacts (relatives and friends names and phone numbers)
2. List of all allergies to medicine with the reaction
3. List of all current medications (name, strength, frequency) and "treatments" (include over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol, vitamins, herbals, and any other items such as energy enhancers; do not lie – if a person ingests, sniffs or injects anything such as drugs or even uses aromatherapy, tell the ER doctor or staff. If you do not have a list, place all of the medication bottles in a bag and bring them to the ER.
4. List of all medical conditions (for example, diabetes, hypertension, peripheral vascular disease)
5. List all surgeries (all means all, not just the most recent including elective plastic surgery)
6. Have available the name(s) of the primary care physician and the specialists that treat the patient
7. Bring a copy of the person's advance directive that is signed; If you are a parent of a child, you are the caregiver and have medical power of attorney unless you have assigned this right to another (grandparent, friend).
8. Bring all cards that pertain to insurance coverage; in addition, you may need a checkbook and/or a credit card.

For those patients with an up-to-date web, company, flash drive or phone app with your complete medical record, the brief checklist is as follows:

1. Bring the security code for your medical records and the name of the website, company, flash drive or phone app or device that contains the health information, including the signed advance directive to the emergency department or doctor's office.
2. Bring whatever is not included in your electronic medical record in items 1 through 8 above (most good sites should include everything, including a signed advance directive)

Do not bring your valuables. Leave money and jewelry at home.

Must Read Articles Related to Hospital Admissions

Advance Directives Advance directives center around the principles of your right to die and death with dignity. A living will tells doctors what life-prolonging treatments to perf...learn more >>

See the Entire Hospital Admissions Topic Guide »