ANN ARBOR, MI (UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN HEALTH) - Knowing where to go after an illness or an accident can be tricky, especially when your primary care doctor is booked or when you need help after hours. There is often a choice between heading to an urgent care or an emergency room. An emergency physician from the University of Michigan Health says it’s important to know the differences between what the two can offer.
“An emergency department is set up to provide the full spectrum of life-saving care for people that come in. So, people having heart attacks, people in car accidents, broken bones. The capabilities exist in the emergency department to manage all sorts of things including cardiac arrest, car accidents, strokes, and seizures,” says Dr. Brad Uren, E.R. Physician at University of Michigan Health. “Urgent cares are well equipped to handle more minor things, things like colds, coughs, minor lacerations, small burns, sprains or small broken bones. Their capabilities are limited usually to X-rays and other simple lab testing.”
While there are benefits to going to urgent care, such as shorter wait times and possibly lower costs, Uren says if you feel that your condition is truly an emergency, don’t avoid going to the ER.
“The bottom line is that the patient is their own best judge of their symptoms. And so, if you believe that you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, something that could impair your limbs or body function, you should seek care in the emergency department,” adds Dr. Uren.
During respiratory virus season, Uren says to head to the emergency room if you or a loved one has severe trouble or pain when breathing.
