I think the confusion might arise from the definition of "long". People who are stable can spend many hours waiting in an ER. This is a long time. Patients with

I think the confusion might arise from the definition of "long". People who are stable can spend many hours waiting in an ER. This is a long time. Patients with urgent but not life threatening issues will be seen quickly and discharged quickly, e.g. getting sutures for a nasty cut. But patients with urgent and life threatening problems, like trauma after a car crash, will receive emergency treatment to stabilize them and then they will be forwarded to another department as soon as possible. How soon depends on hospital capacity, time (day, night, weekend,..), etc.