Urgent care or the ER? How to choose
In short: if a life could be at risk or someone could be left permanently disabled, it's an emergency: call 911 or your local emergency number, or go to the emergency room (ER). Urgent care is for illnesses and minor injuries that can't wait for your doctor but aren't dangerous. If you're not sure, treat it as an emergency.
Call 911 straight away
Call 911 so help comes to you if someone:
- Is choking or not breathing
- Has severe chest pain or pressure, or severe shortness of breath
- Has sudden trouble speaking, seeing, walking or moving, or sudden weakness or drooping on one side of the body. See Signs of a stroke.
- Has a head injury and passes out, faints or is confused
- Has hurt their neck or back, especially with numbness or not being able to move
- Has a seizure that lasts more than a minute, or doesn't wake up quickly afterwards
- Has a severe burn, an electric shock or a lightning strike
Go to the ER (or call 911)
- Trouble breathing, fainting or passing out
- Pain in the arm or jaw. See Signs of a heart attack.
- A sudden, severe or unusual headache
- Sudden confusion, or dizziness or weakness that won't go away
- Heavy bleeding, a deep wound or a serious burn
- A possible broken bone with bone showing through the skin, or not being able to move a limb
- Coughing up or vomiting blood
- Severe pain anywhere
- A severe allergic reaction with trouble breathing, swelling or hives. See Severe allergic reaction.
- A high fever with a headache and stiff neck, or a high fever that doesn't come down with medicine
- Vomiting or diarrhea that won't stop
- A seizure
- Breathing in smoke or poisonous fumes, or poisoning or an overdose of medicines, drugs or alcohol
Urgent care or your doctor
Urgent care, or a same-day appointment with your own doctor, can usually handle:
- Colds, flu, earaches, sore throats, migraines, low fevers and small rashes
- Sprains, back pain, minor cuts and burns, minor broken bones and minor eye injuries
Plan ahead
- Find your nearest ER and urgent care center, and check the urgent care opening hours.
- Ask your doctor's office whether it has an after-hours phone line or a nurse advice line.
- Emergency room care can cost two to three times as much as the same care in a doctor's office, and your insurance may charge a higher copay. But in an emergency, don't let cost stop you getting help.
- For a possible poisoning, Poison Control is free and confidential at 1-800-222-1222. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.
Sources
- MedlinePlus: When to use the emergency room
- HRSA: Poison Help
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988lifeline.org