Should I Go to the Emergency Room or Urgent Care?
When you or a loved one is suffering from an injury or illness that needs immediate medical attention, you might wonder where you should go for diagnosis and treatment. Should you go to the emergency room? Or should you go to urgent care?
There are some nuances and details that it’s important to be aware of when deciding when to go to the ER vs. an urgent care. There are certain times - such as when the urgent care is closed, or when a seemingly mild situation is actually a symptom of a much more serious condition that hasn’t been detected yet - where going to the emergency room is the better option.
If you’re unsure where to go, we recommend that you err on the side of caution and come to ER Katy. We’re open 24/ 7 and we’re equipped to handle any medical situation that comes our way.
At A Glance: Emergency Room vs. Urgent Care
EMERGENCY ROOM
URGENT CARE
What Does the ER Do?
Emergency rooms like ER Katy are set up to handle life-threatening illnesses and medical emergencies such as heart attacks, strokes, severe fractures, severe head injuries, and excessive bleeding, as well as conditions that are not life-threatening, such as fevers, flu symptoms, minor infections, minor fractures, and cuts that require stitches.
Emergency rooms are staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays, with doctors and nurses who are capable of diagnosing and treating critical health issues quickly and effectively. They also have advanced medical technology on-site for imaging, diagnostics, and trauma care.
ER Katy is always staffed with physicians who are board-certified in emergency room medicine. We also have a full-service lab, imaging capabilities like a multi-slice CT scan, ultrasound, high-resolution X-ray, and cardiac and EKG monitoring, and an on-site pharmacy. No matter what the emergency, we’re equipped to handle it, and when you’re ready to go home, in many cases, you won’t have to make an extra stop to get your medications on the way.
What Can Urgent Care Do?
Urgent cares are set up to give medical care for non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries when your primary care doctor is unavailable. They are not set up to treat life-threatening conditions.
Most urgent cares operate on limited hours and may not be open late or on weekends, or may have shortened hours on holidays. If you go to an urgent care clinic for medical attention, it’s a good idea to check the hours beforehand to ensure they’re open. If you need medical help when the urgent care clinic isn’t open, you can come to ER Katy and be seen right away.
Most urgent care clinics require you to set up an appointment and wait to be seen, whereas, at ER Katy, you can walk in and be seen with no wait time.
Urgent care clinics are staffed primarily by physician assistants and nurse practitioners, who may be limited in what medical conditions they can diagnose and treat. In some cases, but not always, a physician may be on staff. ER Katy is always staffed with board-certified emergency room physicians who can diagnose and treat any medical issue you may have.
ERs May Be Able to Diagnose Conditions that Urgent Care Can’t
ER or urgent care? When deciding whether to go to the emergency room or the urgent care, it’s important to remember that sometimes symptoms that seem mild can be caused by a situation that is more serious than an urgent care clinic is equipped to diagnose or treat.
For example, an elderly patient once came to ER Katy with a fever. This was his only symptom. After a thorough examination, we discovered he had a foot infection that had traveled into one of his bones. We immediately put him on IV antibiotics and admitted him to the hospital. An urgent care center may not have been able to diagnose the cause of the fever, and the urgent care center may not have been equipped with the antibiotics needed to keep the infection at bay until the patient could be hospitalized.
We had a similar situation with two patients who came in for shoulder pain. Both were in their 50s and had moderate cardiac risk factors for heart attack. Their shoulder X-rays were normal, but our Medical Director, Dr. Ethan T. Brown, ordered EKGs for both men because of their medical histories and cardiac risk factors. The EKGs both showed acute heart attacks that required immediate treatment. Both men were given emergent angioplasties with stents placed and did very well after treatment.
This is the kind of expertise you can expect from ER Katy. We go the extra mile to catch things that urgent care clinics and even other ERs can’t. So if you’re deciding whether to go to urgent care or the emergency room for immediate medical treatment, we recommend that you err on the side of caution and come to ER Katy right now. We’re open 24/7, no appointments needed.
When Should You Go to the ER?
You can come to ER Katy for both non-life-threatening and life-threatening medical issues.
You should come to ER Katy right away if you experience symptoms that indicate that you may have a life-threatening medical condition or injury that requires immediate intervention from an expert in emergency care. These are medical issues that an urgent care clinic may not be able to treat.
If you have the following symptoms and they are mild to severe, you should come to ER Katy right away:
- Chest pain
- Difficulty breathing
- Deep wounds
- Excessive bleeding
- Severe burns
- Bone fractures
- Slurred speech
- Weakness or numbness on one side of the body
- Loss of consciousness
- Mild to severe abdominal pain
- Anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction)
- Severe confusion
- A high fever that doesn’t respond to medication
- Seizure
- Mental health crisis
If you notice any of these symptoms in yourself or someone you know, get to ER Katy right away for prompt diagnosis and treatment. Our expert emergency room physicians can diagnose the cause of the symptoms and start the proper course of treatment right away. Every second counts in an emergency, so don’t delay. If you're asking yourself, "Should I go to the ER or urgent care?", come to ER Katy as quickly as you can.
When Should You Go to Urgent Care?
An urgent care clinic may be a helpful option if you have a non-life-threatening medical issue that can wait to be seen. Urgent care will not be able to treat a life-threatening medical condition. In those situations, you should get to an emergency room like ER Katy right away.
Some conditions where a visit to urgent care may be appropriate include:
- Cold or flu symptoms
- Sore throat
- Sinus infections
- Earache
- Minor urinary infections
- Rashes
- Mild allergic reactions
An urgent care should be able to handle the above conditions. However, some medical conditions that seem mild before a thorough examination can actually be symptoms of a more severe condition that the experienced emergency room physicians at ER Katy can detect and treat effectively.
If you’re unsure if you should go to the emergency room or the urgent care for immediate medical attention, we recommend erring on the side of caution and visiting an emergency room like ER Katy. We’re always open, even on weekends and holidays, and we’re always staffed with physicians who are board-certified in emergency room medicine, so we can diagnose and treat any medical emergency that comes our way, even if you’re not aware of the emergency when you come in.
ER Katy is Open 24/7 - We’re Open When Urgent Cares Aren’t
ER Katy is always open - 24/7, every day of the year, including holidays, no matter what.
Urgent care clinics in Katy, TX are often open until 8:00 p.m. or 9:00 p.m. Some of them even close as early as 7:00 p.m. So if you have an illness or injury that requires immediate attention, but it’s outside of opening hours, urgent care is not an option. We are. ER Katy never closes. We’re always here, whenever you need us.
So if you need urgent medical care, no matter what time it is, come to ER Katy right away.
THE ADVANTAGE OF EMERGENCY ROOMS
Our priority is your health
MEDICAL EXPERTISE
EMERGENCIES
PATIENT EXPERIENCE
