How often are children coming to Ontario’s Emergency Departments?

While most children made only one ED visit in the year, almost one-third (31.8%) made two or more visits. Almost one-quarter (23.5%) of children that made more than one visit to the ED in the year returned to the ED within 72 hours of their previous visit. Of these 218,106 children, we found that:

• 34.1% were aged 1 to 4;
• 45.7% had been triaged as requiring less- or non-urgent care at their initial visit;
• 48.7% had registered between 4 p.m. and 12 a.m. during their initial visit; and
• 12.6% had left the ED prior to their completing their initial visit.