Go to the Emergency Room Now!
There are times when you should rush to the emergency room, and times when your personal doctor or local clinic are the best people to contact.
Over 100 million people go to the emergency room each year, and the number has been steadily climbing for decades. Our nation's hospital emergency rooms are often overcrowded and the wait to see a doctor can be lengthy. Many people will go to the emergency room for every ache or pain they have. This can clog up the system for people who are experiencing serious symptoms. In Los Angeles, it was recently reported that the wait time in some emergency rooms can be as long as 12 hours! However, there are times when you should not ignore serious symptoms, but go to the emergency room as quickly as possible, and there are things you can do to make the trip a bit more efficient.
Go to the Emergency Room if You Experience these Symptoms:
If you see someone loses consciousness, call 911 and get them to the hospital quickly.
If you are alone and regain consciousness after fainting, call 911.
If you have a severe head injury or suspect a concussion
If you experience blurry vision or other sudden vision changes
If you begin coughing or vomiting up blood
If you have been in a serious car accident, let the emergency room doctors check you out, even if you feel fine. You could be experiencing internal injuries.
If you may have overdosed on drugs or could be suffering from alcohol poisoning from binge drinking, you should be taken to the emergency room if you lose consciousness.
If you suspect you are having a stroke, go to the emergency room. Some of the symptoms of a stroke are difficulty speaking, sudden weakness or numbness in your face, arm or leg, especially on one side of your body, or suddenly feeling confused or disoriented. If you are alone, call 911 for an ambulance.
If you suspect you are having a heart attack, go to the emergency room. Some of the symptoms of a heart attack are chest pain, pain radiating down one of your arms, shortness of breath, profuse sweating. Sometimes the chest pain can feel more like it is in the abdominal area, or an extreme case of indigestion. Suspect a heart attack if the indigestion is also accompanied by any of the other symptoms. Again, if you are alone, call 911 for an ambulance.
If you have a severe reaction to an insect bite, food or medication, go to the emergency room.
In general, you should go to the emergency room if you experience ANY sudden, extreme pain, uncontrolled bleeding, loss of consciousness, vision problems, or major injuries.
Call your Doctor or Go to a Clinic if You Experience these Symptoms:
If you have a sore throat, congestion or other symptoms of the flu or a cold
If you suspect you have a virus
If you are experiencing nausea, with or without mild or occasional vomiting
If you believe you may have a strained a muscle
If you believe you may have sprained an ankle or, possibly, broken a bone
Your personal doctor, or the medical clinic that is recommended by your doctor or insurance, will be equipped to assess you symptoms and decide if you should go to the emergency room, come into their office, or be referred to a specialist.
What to Bring With You to the Emergency Room
People sometimes show up in the emergency room and are unable to provide the physicians there with much information. This can hamper their ability to help you. Here are some of the things you should have with you:
First, bring along another person, or have them meet you there. If you lose consciousness, or have trouble speaking, a friend or relative may be able to provide the emergency room doctors and staff with at least some of the information they will need.
In addition, try to carry the following information with you at all times, written out on a piece of paper or a small notecard. Keep it in your purse or wallet. On it, you should print: your name and address, your insurance, your doctors' names and phone numbers, emergency contact information, a list of the medications you take, any food or drug allergies you are aware of, and a short medical history of serious illnesses, surgeries, etc. Keep this information in your cell phone, too. If you are unconscious, or having trouble speaking, this information will be invaluable to the doctors who are trying to help you.
Hopefully, you will never need to be rushed to an emergency room. However, just in case, it is always wise to be prepared.
If you are interested in learning more about keeping your family safe and healthy, you may want to read one of the following articles:
Protecting Yourself from Common Causes of Cancer
Preventing Death and Injury in Children
Why Worry About Drug and Alcohol Abuse Among Teens
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Comments
Excellent suggestions. Thanks for a great article.
Like you say I would advise people to go to the hospitals too. BUT lately because I believe from lack of amount of doctors people are being turned without seeing a doctor.
I live north of Perth Western australia and 2 people have died because they were told to go home and take a panadol or something similar. When in actual fact they were really sick. So it is hard to know what to do Although if this happens to you I would go to the hospital and if not checked out properly I would get another opinion that is for sure you just cannot be too careful when it is your life on the line. Great article thanks.
Good job on this one.
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