If we are to understand emergency department wait times in Canada, we must first understand how emergency departments are used.

The urgent conditions seem to be seen quickly, while the wait is quite a bit longer for non-urgent cases.

For kids, there's a second peak in the evening, perhaps because parents are getting home, doing that last check before bed.

One thing that's important to remember is that these are individual patients -- your son or daughter who went to an emergency with a broken arm or your grandma who ended up there with a heart condition.

Where alternatives are available, this raises questions about whether a portion of these types of patients can be appropriately treated in non-emergency department settings, such as primary health care clinics.

The median wait time is 51 minutes.