So . . . with urgent care and ER facilities seemingly on every corner, when do you know which one to take your child to? how do you choose the best place to seek care for your child? And where does your pediatrician fit into the mix? As healthcare continues to change, it seems like there are more and more options for treating your children when they are ill or injured.
Emergency Care: When to go to the ER or Call 911
Emergency rooms are designed for quick treatment of life-threatening injuries and illnesses. Your child’s condition may seem urgent to you, but might not necessarily qualify as an emergency. Often, parents feel stressed when anything happens to their child, but ERs are designed to treat children who are experiencing a true life threatening emergency.
Here are some of the top reasons why you should seek medical attention in an emergency department for your child:
- Your child suddenly becomes ill very quickly
- Your child’s condition would require emergency surgery such as with an appendicitis
- Difficulty breathing
- Head injury that causes your child to pass out or vomit
- Bleeding that does not stop within a few minutes of holding pressure
- Blue or purple lips
- Burns, especially on large areas of the body
- Choking
- Injuries to the head or neck
- Convulsions or seizures
- Accidents or injuries that occur as a result of a fall or an impact
- Broken bones
Urgent Care Clinic
Urgent care centers are designed to see kids for illnesses that cannot wait until normal business hours or if your pediatrician is booked. These centers treat minor illnesses such as ear infections and sore throats. These facilities are not created in order to treat anything that is life-threatening. If you show up to an urgent care facility with an extremely ill child, they will often put your child in an ambulance and send them on to the Emergency Room.
You should choose urgent care if:
- Your pediatrician is unavailable to see your child
- The child has a condition that cannot wait until the pediatrician is available
- Your child has a non-life-threatening condition
Conditions to treat in an urgent care facility:
- abdominal pain
- asthma attack
- minor injury
- respiratory infection
- strep throat
- runny nose
- ear pain
- stomach pain
- skin infections
- urinary infections
- sinus infection
- common cold symptoms
Pediatric Facilities
Not all urgent care facilities and emergency rooms are created equally. Only ones that are designed for children are equipped to care for them. It is important to choose an emergency department or an urgent care clinic that has a board-certified pediatrician and pediatric nurses on staff. Children are not just little adults needing treatment by healthcare providers that don’t understand their needs.
Choose a Direct Primary Care Pediatrician Instead
While we can’t promise that your child will never need to go to the ER or Urgent Care, our practice offers direct access to the pediatrician. We are most often able to keep sick children at home and care for them remotely and in person. Dr. Wadley provides medical care to children in the comfort of their own homes. So if you are tired of trying to decide how to treat your children on your own, give us a call today. We can get your children signed up for a membership with 127 Pediatrics and start providing the care that your children deserve.
© 127 Pediatrics; January 2023
This article does not constitute medical advice.
Dr. Andrea Wadley is the owner, pediatrician, and breastfeeding medicine specialist for 127 Pediatrics. She has an established house calls-only pediatric practice in Colleyville, TX. Dr. Wadley sees patients all over Tarrant county for concierge breastfeeding medicine consults, lactation consults, fourth-trimester care, tongue tie clipping, and medical ear piercing.
