Should You Go to the Emergency Room?

According to the CDC, “one in five Americans report visiting the emergency room at least once in the past year.” But are all of those visits necessary – and if not, how do you tell when an emergency is truly an emergency that requires after-hours treatment or if it can wait until the next morning?

When you should go to the ER:

• Broken bones and dislocated joints
• Deep cuts that require stitches- especially on the face
• Head or eye injuries
• Severe flu or cold symptoms
• High fevers
• Fevers with rash
• Fevers in infants
• Fainting or loss of consciousness
• Severe pain, particularly in the abdomen or starting halfway down the back
• Bleeding that won’t stop or a large open wound
• Vaginal bleeding during pregnancy
• Repeated vomiting
• Serious burns
• Seizures without a previous diagnosis of epilepsy

When you shouldn’t go to the ER:

• Symptom onset is gradual
• You already know that diagnosis but are unable to get a same-day appointment with your primary care physician
• Conditions that are not life- or limb- threatening, but require immediate care
• Sprains
• Sore throats
•  Urinary tract infections
• Mild asthma
• Rash without fever
• Broken bones of the wrist, hand, ankle or foot that have no obvious need to reset and have not broken the skin.