Phase 1: Foundation
ER and urgent care
Knowing where to go — and what happens after you walk in — can save you hours, money, and worry. This guide explains when the emergency room is the right choice, when urgent care is enough, and step by step how a patient moves through each place, including how you get admitted to the hospital.
When to go where
The simplest way to decide: the ER is for problems that could threaten your life, a limb, or your eyesight. Urgent care is for problems that need attention today but are not dangerous. Your regular doctor handles everything that can safely wait.
Open 24 hours. Can admit you to the hospital.
- Chest pain, chest pressure, or pain spreading to the arm or jaw
- Signs of stroke — face drooping, arm weakness, slurred speech, sudden confusion
- Trouble breathing or shortness of breath that will not ease
- Heavy bleeding that will not stop
- Head injury, fainting, or a seizure
- Severe pain anywhere in the body, especially the belly or back
- High fever with confusion, stiff neck, or a bad rash
- A broken bone that looks out of place, or a deep wound
- Thoughts of harming yourself or someone else
Call 911 instead of driving
If someone has chest pain, stroke signs, severe trouble breathing, heavy bleeding, or is not fully awake, call 911. Paramedics can start treatment on the way and the ER is warned before you arrive. Never drive yourself when you feel like you might pass out.
Emergency Room (ER)
What it means for you: You are here because your symptoms may require immediate evaluation, treatment, or testing. The ER is equipped to care for serious and potentially life-threatening problems and can admit you to the hospital if needed.
What to expect: A triage nurse will first assess your symptoms and vital signs to determine how urgently you need to be seen. You may then have a nursing assessment, see a provider, and receive tests such as blood work, an EKG, X-ray, CT scan, or ultrasound. Depending on your results, you may go home, stay for observation, or be admitted to the hospital.
Questions to ask in the ER
- What are we waiting on right now?
- What tests have been ordered, and when should results come back?
- Am I being discharged, placed in observation, or admitted?
- Which unit am I going to, and who will be my doctor there?
- What medications have I been given here, and why?
- If I go home, what warning signs mean I should come back?
Urgent Care
What it means for you: Urgent Care is designed for medical problems that need attention today but are generally not life-threatening. It can provide evaluation and treatment without requiring an emergency department visit.
What to expect: You will usually have your symptoms reviewed and your vital signs checked before seeing a doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. Depending on the location, Urgent Care may provide tests such as strep, flu, COVID, urine testing, basic blood work, or an X-ray.
If your condition requires more advanced testing, prolonged treatment, surgery, or hospital admission, Urgent Care may send you to the ER.
Questions to ask at urgent care
- Can this be treated here, or do I need the ER?
- What tests can you do on site today?
- What will this visit and these tests cost me?
- Will my regular doctor get a copy of today's visit?
- What should get better in the next 48 hours, and what should not?
- When should I follow up, and with whom?
If you are admitted, here is what comes next
Being admitted through the ER is one of the most common ways patients enter the hospital. Your next steps are your first day on the unit, meeting your care team, and understanding the level of care you were placed in.