Urgent Care vs ER

Over 80% of Emergency Room visits can be treated at an urgent care facility.


WHEN TO GO TO URGENT CARE

Urgent Care centers handle non-life-threatening situations and non-emergency situations that occur during evenings, weekends, and holidays.

  • Symptom onset is gradual
  • You already know the diagnosis but are unable to get a same-day appointment with your primary care physician
  • Sprains
  • Sore throat
  • Animal bites
  • Mild asthma
  • Foreign object in eye or nose
  • Minor fractures
  • Cold or flu symptoms
  • Urinary tract infections
  • Mild asthma
  • Rash without fever
  • Broken bones of the wrist, hand, ankle or foot that have no obvious need to reset and have not broken the skin
  • Rashes or minor burns
  • Ear or sinus pain
  • X-rays
  • Cough or sore throat
  • Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea

WHEN TO GO TO AN EMERGENCY ROOM

ERs are meant for true medical emergencies and are necessary when a patient is suffering from life or limb-threatening illnesses and injuries.

  • Broken bones and dislocated joints
  • Deep cuts that require stitches — especially on the face
  • Head or eye injuries
  • Severe flu or cold symptoms
  • Sudden change in mental state
  • High fevers
  • Fevers with rash
  • Fevers in infants
  • Severe pain, particularly in the abdomen or starting halfway down the back
  • Bleeding that won’t stop or a large open wound
  • Vaginal bleeding with pregnancy
  • Repeated vomiting
  • Serious burns
  • Seizures without a previous diagnosis of epilepsy