Knowing when to get medical help is one thing. Knowing where
to go is another. With so many different injuries and illnesses at such
different levels of severity, it can be hard to determine whether or not to
seek help at all, let alone if it should be at the doctor’s office or emergency
room. The good news is there are some resources you can look up for help making
the hard decisions. If you are worried about small emergency injuries, the
following should help you determine what to do and where to go.
The first thing to consider is the severity of the injury.
If you had whiplash, you may not know how severe it is until days later, and it
might be smart to just see a doctor immediately. Cuts have varying degrees of
severity. If you can stop the blood yourself, and it’s not very deep, you may not
need medical care at all. If the bleeding won’t stop after a couple minutes of
pressure, or if it the cut is over 0.25 inches deep and 0.75 inches long, it
could very possibly need stitches. There are similar considerations for every
type of injury including burns, lacerations, fractures and more.
After you determine the severity of the injury, you need to
decide where to go. In most cases mentioned above, an urgent care facility is
your best option. Waiting too long for an opening at your doctor’s office could
aggravate the problem and the injury. Urgent care clinics are equipped to cast
a fracture, put stitches on a cut and treat a burn upon your arrival. As long
as the injury isn’t life threatening, you generally don’t need to go to the
emergency room for complete and proper care. The physicians at these clinics
are trained and qualified to care for small emergencies, and will recommend
stronger treatment at a hospital if necessary.
Urgent care treatment centers have different hours than a
doctor’s office. The times they are open are more flexible, allowing treatment
during times when you wouldn’t otherwise be able to go anywhere but the
emergency room. It’s important that you contact some facilities in your
community to obtain addresses and hours of operation so you can be prepared in
the face of a small emergency.
Whether you have experienced such a situation in the past or
are just extra vigilant at being prepared, knowing what to do and where to go
for your small injuries is important. For injury care in San Diego, visit this website to find a facility near you.
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