Urgent Care Helps Prevent Emergency Room Suffering

There are some medical emergencies that are less serious than others. While it is possible to treat minor cuts and burns at home, life-threatening injuries will need the immediate attention, care, and facilities of a hospital staff. For the in-between that can't be treated at home, but wouldn't get much attention at an emergency room, an urgent care facility can treat minor illness and injury.

Most emergency rooms in major cities are always crowded with patients. However, emergency rooms do not operate on a first come, first served basis. Instead, the medical staff must tend to the patients based on the seriousness of the injury. Therefore, even a patient with a broken arm cannot receive medical attention before another patient with a more serious or life-threatening injury. This is why many patients, especially those with an illness, might prefer to stay home or wait to make an appointment with a doctor, instead of getting immediate attention at the emergency room. Unfortunately, this can lead to an emergency later on, especially if the patient is dehydrated or experiences more serious affects of the illness. Likewise, an injury that has not been properly treated can become infected, and create a life-threatening situation. This is why the urgent care clinic has become a valuable resource in the medical community. Instead of waiting hours on end, or attempting to self-medicate a badly sprained ankle, visiting an urgent care clinic is a good alternative. Furthermore, many doctor's offices are only open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. Meanwhile, urgent care clinics are open after hours and on the weekends, when many injuries seem to occur because of sporting or outdoor activities.

Although they can vary in size, an urgent care clinic is staffed with board-certified physicians, nurses, and x-ray technician, all of which are personnel that can be found in a hospital emergency room. Likewise, the available equipment can vary, but many of these facilities will have some of the same equipment that can be found in an emergency room. Many of these facilities can perform lab work and x-rays on-site, and forward the results to the patient's primary care physician for continued care.

Medical emergencies are common. However, some of these emergencies tend to be less urgent than others. And if a patient happens to visit a busy emergency room, there is a chance they could suffer through their injury or illness while waiting for treatment, especially if their primary physician is unavailable. An urgent care clinic answers the call with much of the same medical equipment and staff that can be found in an emergency room.