Healthcare / Free editable template

Emergency department crowding by hour template

Waits in the emergency department build up at predictable times of day. This chart plots arrivals per hour as bars and the number of patients in the department as a line for an example weekday, then marks the pressure points, such as the morning arrival peak and the afternoon point when beds run out, alongside a tally of recorded breach reasons.

This is a planning example for process improvement, not clinical guidance. Follow your organisation's policies and clinical protocols.

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Emergency department crowding by hour example showing arrivals per hour and occupancy line, annotated pressure points, breach reason tally and next step — Everything in this example is editable. Replace the labels, move the shapes and adapt the layout to your work.

How to use this template

Pull a day of data
Export arrivals and departures by hour from your system for a typical weekday, and work out how many patients are in the department each hour.
Mark where it builds
Add a note at each point where the line rises fastest or stays high, saying what is happening then, from staffing to beds.
Test one change
Pick the earliest pressure point and test one change, such as an extra triage nurse in the morning peak, then redraw the chart.

Questions about this template

Where do I enter my own hourly arrivals?

Edit the bar labels and heights for each hour, then redraw the occupancy line to match. Keep the pressure point notes beside the hours where they happened.

Do I need an account to use it?

No. Open the template and edit it in your browser. Your work saves on this device. An account is optional if you want to sync your workspace.

Can I export the finished diagram?

Yes. Use Export in the editor to save a PNG, SVG or PDF, or download an editable .epicdraw backup.