We all become ill or injured at some point in our lives, and often these health issues may require an emergency room visit. Emergency rooms are open 24 hours a day for every day of the year.
An emergency room is part of a hospital. They are equipped with life saving services. If necessary, after an evaluation, you may be admitted to the hospital.
Emergency rooms triage, meaning the most ill patients are seen first. If you are in the emergency room for a non-life-threatening issue, you may wait a very long time to be seen as other patients more ill than you keep coming in.
The 1986 Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) requires emergency rooms to provide treatment to everyone regardless of legal status or ability to pay. Emergency rooms are the only health care establishments that provide care without requiring payment or insurance up front. This does not mean emergency room care is free. You will be billed, and ER visits can be very expensive.
#1: Know When to Go to the ER
Ask yourself how quickly you need care.
Symptoms Requiring Ambulance
If you are in a situation where you could imminently die, do not drive or have anyone else drive you to the ER. Instead, call 911 so an ambulance and emergency team will come to you, and you will receive care on the way to the ER. Examples of some reasons to call 911 are chest pain, choking, severe shortness of breath, passing out, severe trauma to the body, or weakness of an arm or leg.
Drive-in Emergency Symptoms
Issues that cannot wait but are not imminently deadly, may necessitate a drive by yourself or by someone else to the emergency room. Examples of drive-in emergency room visits are non-life-threatening traumatic injury, abdominal pain, large lacerations, fever greater than 103 degrees Fahrenheit, vaginal bleeding during pregnancy or shortness of breath.
ER or Urgent Care?
So, when should you go to an urgent care? First, see if you can be seen by your primary care physician for your health issue that is not routine health care maintenance. If there are no timely appointments available, urgent care may be a better option than the ER. Copays and cost in general are lower at an urgent care than an ER. Also, wait times are usually less in urgent care. Common things seen in urgent care are urinary tract infections, injuries that are not life threatening, ear pain, throat pain, low grade fevers, and small lacerations.
If you simply don’t know where to go, you may call your doctor’s office or your health insurance company. Either of these options may have an advice nurse.
#2: Bring Your Basic Health Information
Have a list of your current medications, allergies, and chronic health conditions either on a piece of paper or on your phone. This information can be valuable to your medical care. Also, know who your primary care physician is and have contact information available.
#3: Speak Directly and Clearly
Tell the emergency room staff what your emergency is and focus on that. Do not go through a list of health concerns you have. That is what your primary care physician is for. The ER does not have time or resources to go into depth regarding non-emergent health issues.
#4: Bring Your Insurance Card
Having your health insurance card will make the financial part of your visit smoother. It is good to keep your health insurance card easily accessible in your wallet. I do caution you that although documents and cards are important, they are not more important than your actual health.
Do not hesitate to call 911 right away if you need to, and do not waste precious time looking for insurance cards or documents if you need to get to the ER quickly.
#5: Bring Legal Documents
If you have medical directives as to whether you want to be resuscitated or not or if you do or do not want certain other life saving measures, bring those with you. Durable power of attorney is another important legal document to bring to the ER.
#6: Bring a Mobile Charger for Your Phone
Again, these are good things to keep on hand but priority one is to get you to the ER in time to receive medical care. So, if you don’t have it or can’t find it, don’t waste time. Just go.
We now live in a world where cellphones are a major part of most people’s lives. There may be information in your phone that your ER physician could find helpful, or you may just need phone numbers of people you need to inform about what is going on.
#7: Ask Your Doctor to Review Your Discharge Plan
After you are patched up and treated, you certainly do not want to end up back in the ER. So, make sure you understand the discharge instructions and that you follow them. If you do not understand, ask questions until you do.
You never know the next time you will need to visit the emergency room. So, it is always wise to be prepared. Get all documents together and easily accessible. Know where the closest urgent cares and emergency rooms are before an emergency occurs. Hopefully, these simple steps will help your next ER visit run as smoothly as possible.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Have you had a poor or good ER experience? Have you had a poor or good urgent care experience? What things do you do to optimize your ER visits? What tips do you have for other readers?
