Emergency or Not?
If you believe you have a life-threatening condition, do not drive to the emergency room. That presents a danger to you and others. Call 9-1-1 immediately. They will assess you and begin to deliver care before they transport you to us.
The emergency department is designated as a place with the full resources to treat life-threatening conditions and injuries. If you go to an emergency room for a nonemergency condition, you should expect a longer wait. People with the most serious conditions will be treated first because they have the greatest health risk.
Evaluating Emergencies
Emergency Conditions
- Heart attack/Chest pain
- Stroke
- Serious head injury
- Appendicitis
- Compound fracture
- Uncontrolled bleeding
- Diabetic coma/reaction
- Extreme difficulty breathing
- Unresponsiveness
- High fever
- Multiple/severe insect stings
- Hives (swelling of eyes, throat, etc.)
- Poisoning
- Kidney stones
- Respiratory failure
- Kidney failure
- Heart failure
- Changes in level of consciousness
- Pneumonia
- Seizure
- Knife or gunshot wounds
- Acute asthma
- Drug overdose
- Complications of pregnancy
- Electrical injury
- Drowning
- Choking
- Severe burn
- Sudden loss or change of vision
- Heat exhaustion
- Attempted suicide
- Diving injuries
- Severe pain
Non-Emergency Conditions
- Cold
- Diarrhea (depending on severity)
- Earache
- Eye irritation
- Sore throat
- Mild asthma
- Moderate vomiting or diarrhea
- Headache (depending on presentation)
- Cough
- Low/moderate fever
- Flu
- Nasal allergy
- Urinary tract infection
- Skin rash or infection
- Minor cut
- Muscle sprains and strains
- Sneeze
- Cuts that need only a few stitches
If you go to an urgent care clinic with a condition that is severe, you’ll be referred to the hospital emergency department for treatment.
Keep in mind that the out-of-pocket payment for emergency service is also much more than care for a minor illness or accident in a Willis Knighton Quick Care Urgent Care Center or in your doctor’s office.
