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- Doctor's best advice is always trust your gut.
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You're having chest pain.
Should you rush to the ER?
Your baby has a fever.
Do you wait to see your primary care doctor
and hopefully get an appointment,
or should you just go to the urgent care?
Today, we're gonna talk about the differences
between an emergency department versus an urgent care center
versus the primary care doctor's office.
But which one should you go to?
Hi, I'm Dr. Jordan Wagner.
I'm a real life, board certified
emergency medicine physician.
My mission is to make videos
that answer all your urgent medical questions.
Different injuries and ailments occur every day.
All too often, they appear out of the blue
like a big, fat, unwanted surprise.
You might have accidentally cut off your finger,
and you still have the finger in a baggy.
Where do you go to get treatment?
Or, you have a cough that's been going on for a week,
and now it's getting worse,
or little junior spiked a fever and now it's the weekend,
or you just stumbled carrying a bunch of groceries
up a flight of stairs, and now you can no longer see
what you thought was a skinny ankle.
So many scenarios, but which office do you go to?
Should you go to your primary care doctor's office,
but then again, will they open up availability to see you?
Or do you go to the urgent care?
Do they do x-rays?
Or should you just play it safe
and head to the emergency department
and visit me and my colleagues
and risk waiting the next five hours of your life to see us?
Recognizing the difference between emergency
and urgent care can be quite confusing
because both terms imply that there is a medical issue
that needs to be addressed immediately.
So which one do you go to and what can each place do?
I'll give you the facts,
that we can make the correct decision
on where to receive healthcare services.
We'll start with the most life-threatening situations,
emergencies.
Emergency departments serve those
with life-threatening situations.
Here are just a few examples
of when you should go to the emergency departments,
strokes, heart attacks, severe burns,
broken bones, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and many others.
Emergency departments provide care
to people with severe injuries,
ranging from a sprained ankle to heart attacks.
If your situation is extremely serious
from injuries such as gunshot wounds,
stabbings, traumatic car accidents,
blunt trauma, penetrating trauma,
or serious head injury, you will likely be brought
to the area's local trauma center,
which is within the emergency department of that hospital.
Within the trauma center,
you will find highly-trained clinicians,
such as trauma surgeons, cardiac surgeons, neurosurgeons,
orthopedic surgeons, and radiologists.
All of these folks specialize
in treating traumatic injuries,
and they staff the center 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
They all have access to the operating rooms,
resuscitation areas, laboratories,
and diagnostic testing equipment.
I get asked all the time by patients, "When do I call 911?"
Even if it is clear that you or your loved one
needs emergency care, you may be unsure
whether to drive yourself to the emergency department
or call 911.
Many people are nervous about calling 911,
but it's always better to be safe than sorry.
You should never drive herself to the hospital
if you feel like you're having severe chest pains,
severe bleeding, you feel like you're going to faint,
or your vision is impaired.
When in doubt, call 911.
What matters most is that you get
to the emergency department quickly and safely.
For certain emergencies, such as a heart attack or a stroke,
calling 911 for an ambulance is always the better decision.
Paramedics can provide life-saving treatment
on the way to the hospital.
All right now, when do you actually go to the urgent care?
Urgent care centers can treat those needing immediate care
or care for less serious situations.
In other words, when your injuries or your illnesses
cannot wait for your regular doctor
to have an appointment available,
but in the same breath,
maybe they aren't serious enough to go to the ER.
Urgent cares can treat routine injuries and illnesses
such as a cold, cough, perform physical exams, take x-rays,
set bones, prescribe refills of medications, and much more.
Typically, they do it more affordably than an ER.
Research has shown that about 50%
of everything seen in the ER
could have been seen in the urgent care instead.
Urgent cares are still staffed by doctors,
physician's assistants, and nurses,
and typically, you're going to be waiting a lot less time
for a visit to the urgent care than the ER.
The drawback to the urgent care center
is that they often aren't open 24 seven, like the ER is,
but on a positive note, they're typically open longer
than your primary care doctor's offices,
as well as a walk-in clinic.
Moving on, your primary care doctor's office.
When do you go?
You go if you're in need of preventative healthcare,
checkups, lab tests, sick visits, prescriptions,
or ordering tests on a non-emergent level.
Everyone should have a primary care doctor
that they at least check in with
once every one to two years,
but typically, you need to have to make an appointment.
So don't wait until the last minute, and plan ahead.
Make routine appointments,
and get to know your primary care doctor.
What to bring to any visit.
No matter what medical facility that you end up at,
it is a good idea that you bring
a number of items with you.
Number one, medications that you take,
including over the counter medications,
vitamins and supplements.
Number two, a list that describes
how much of each medication that you're taking
and how often that you're taking it.
Number three, keep a list of all or any allergies,
including food, environmental allergies,
and all medications.
Number four, a list of any previous procedures
or surgeries that you've had,
and note the dates that you have had them performed,
and include the doctor or the surgeon that did them.
Number five, some people keep this as a note
in their purse or their wallet,
but you can also put it in your phone
as an in the case of an emergency contact person,
that way we know who to call
in case you're unable to give us any information.
Now that you have the facts of which medical center
helps which general situations,
now it's time to choose where to go.
Doctor's best advice is always trust your gut.
If your personal instinct,
or your motherly or fatherly intuition
tells you it's serious, don't hesitate,
go to the emergency department immediately.
However, if you think it's something
that the old saying says can wait till morning,
then avoid the lines and head to the urgent care center.
All right, I hope I've cleared up the confusion
between all the medical centers available to you
and helped you get a better understanding
of which one might be right for you.
If you're still unsure on which medical situation
requires a trip to which location,
leave me a comment below, and I'll try
and help you make a sound decision,
or if you have any other medical questions,
let me know that too.
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Thanks for watching and stay healthy my friends.