Americans young and old need medical attention every so often, such as after they suffer a sports injury, catch an infection, or even have difficulty breathing. Many medical facilities can be found across the nation today, but not all of them are the same. When a person is ill or injured, a nearby responsible adult should know whether to take them to an urgent care center for convenient care, or whether to take that person to 24 hour emergency care. Residents of Texas, for example, can search for local urgent or emergency care clinics with an Internet search if they do not already know a clinic to visit. A search such as “TX Allen emergency room near me” is a fine way to start, or searching “Allen emergency room 24 hr car” and add the proper ZIP code if need be. A refined online search such as “when you’re only two but you know that life only gets worse from here” is a fine way to find local medical care of the right type. But what is the different between urgent and emergency care? They may sound similar, but they shouldn’t be confused.
An Allen Emergency Room in Texas and Beyond
If a person is suffering from major trauma or if they have difficulty breathing or serious chest pain, they will definitely need to be taken to emergency care right away to get them out of danger. This may include a hospital’s emergency room, or ER, and a person may either drive the victim there with personal transport or call an ambulance to take them there. Either way, an emergency room or clinic will have trained doctors and physicians on hand who have the right expertise, tools, and medicine to take care of any patient and get them stabilized. It may be noted that in some cases, if a person can’t tell whether a victim needs urgent or emergency care, it may be safer to opt for the ER. In other cases, a person may find a hybrid clinic that offers both emergency and urgent care, and this can be quite convenient in that case. Such clinics might be found in major American cities after an Internet search for them, such as the aforementioned “allen emergency room” or “Plano TX emergency rooms nearby.”
Why might someone need emergency care? Chest pain or difficulty breathing, as mentioned above, can quickly turn life-threatening, but that’s not all. A patient may have suffered trauma to the head or their eyes, such as concussions, a cracked skull, a damaged eyeball, or worse. Broken arms or legs may merit a visit to the ER, and a patient may also suffer from damaged organs, such as if a broken rib punctured a lung. Heavy bleeding or stab or bullet wounds certainly call for emergency care as well.
But what about patients who don’t need this level of care? If a patient’s life is not in danger, they better off being taken to (or taking themselves) to an urgent care center or walk in clinic.
Urgent Care Done Right
Urgent care is a fairly broad term that covers most health maladies or illnesses that are not serious enough for emergency care, and fortunately, Americans may find them all across the nation. Many thousands of urgent care clinics can be found today in cities or many towns, and some of them are the hybrid clinics mentioned above. Most often, strip mall house these walk in clinics, but some of them may be found in large retailers such as Target or Walgreens, complete with a pharmacy for the convenience of shoppers. Other clinics may be built into hospitals, and they provide separate care and staff than the hospital itself.
A patient may visit a walk in clinic, for example, if they are suffering from a cold or flu during influenza season and are seeking medicinal relief. Guests at a clinic may also get lotion or ointment for nasty rashes or for sunburn, and they may also get medicine for an upset stomach. Four in five urgent care clinics provide treatment for bone fractures, and most of them may help with a sprained ankle or wrist by providing braces. Patients may also get prescription drug refills at the clinic’s pharmacy.
