For example, they will transport you to the closest specialized stroke facility if they suspect a stroke. This is due to the fact that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that clot-busting medications should be administered within one to three hours following a stroke. Here are some examples of when you should call 911 immediately: (In some cases, it may be up to 4.5 hours).

• Pain in the chest.
• Breathlessness (gasping for oxygen, feeling out of breath, or, in extreme situations, feeling as though you are suffocating).
• Sagging on one side of the face. This implies, according to Biese, that any attempt at a smile will be uneven.
• Weakness in one arm only. One glides downward when both arms are raised.
• Speech impediment. Your speech is slurred and confused, or you are unable to talk at all.
• A head injury that is followed by disorientation, fainting, or unconsciousness.
• Stopped breathing or choking.
• A neck or spine injury.
• A serious burn.
• A convulsion.
• Receiving a shock from electricity or a lightning strike.

When The ER Is Best

In most cases, visiting an emergency room is the best course of action in the situations listed below. “Make sure you have a driver or dial 911,” advises Saket Saxena, MD, co-director of the Cleveland Clinic’s geriatric emergency department. You might also want to inform the office of your physician. Take action if you have:

• Shortness of breath combined with respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, runny nose, or sore throat). As an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Cameron Gettel, MD, notes that this may indicate that you are running low on oxygen or that you are experiencing consequences like pneumonia.
• Fall and hit your head, yet you are conscious and/or suspect a broken bone. You should be assessed for internal bleeding and a concussion following even a small fall, according to Biese (if you take blood thinners, you should think about visiting the ER). Timely therapy can alleviate pain and prevent problems such as irreversible muscle damage if X-rays detect a broken bone.
• A deep cut that remains bleeding ten minutes later. An emergency room (ER) is the ideal place to treat a severe gash that might need stitches, even though an urgent care center might be able to treat a minor cut.
• Prolonged vomiting lasting longer than an hour or two that is sudden and intense. You could require IV fluids. Moreover, vomiting like this may be a sign of a potentially fatal illness such an intestinal blockage.

Call Your Regular Doctor

For the majority of other uncomfortable but less obviously urgent circumstances, including a pulled muscle that hurts, call your doctor first. According to Saxena, a lot of primary care offices reserve time for patients who require an appointment that day.

Terry Fulmer, RN, PhD, president of the John A. Hartford Foundation in New York City, which is committed to enhancing healthcare for older adults, advises seeing an advanced practice provider, such as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant, if your primary care physician or another doctor in the practice is not available. They might already know you, and they will have easy access to your medical records.

If the practice of your provider is fully booked but is connected to a local medical center, investigate if the center has same-day appointments with other physicians on its network by visiting the website of the related facility. Alternatively, Fulmer suggests searching for a position on Zocdoc with another nearby physician. Using filters for geography, insurance plan, and medical specialty, the web tool looks for available appointment times. It is a useful tool for medical clinics to fill last-minute cancellations, according to her.

Saxena advises calling your doctor’s office on the weekends and in the evenings. Usually, a doctor is available by phone to give you advice on whether you should visit an emergency room or urgent care facility right away or whether you may wait to be seen when the practice reopens.

Consider Urgent Care

Urgent care centers are a possibility for non-life-threatening diseases and injuries because they are frequently open on weekends and evenings.

Gettel advises going to the urgent care facility for an X-ray and bandaging up if you suspect you may have injured your ankle after tripping and it is after regular business hours. In addition, the clinic can perform tests for COVID-19 and the flu, measure your blood pressure and heart rate, listen to your lungs, and, if you have a urinary tract infection and are having painful urination, check your urine and prescribe antibiotics.

Most often, physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants oversee urgent care centers. According to Biese, “it is not like an emergency department, which employs board-certified emergency medicine physicians.” There can be a variation in experience and skill set as a result.

They work best when your symptoms are clear-cut. “The majority of urgent care facilities lack the extensive range of diagnostic tools required to attempt to diagnose a more complicated case,” claims Biese. Additionally, patients with severe chronic illnesses, such as heart failure, must to visit an emergency room (ER) outside of their physician’s regular business hours.

Pharmacy walk-in clinics at large shops like CVS, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart, which may be available in the nights and on weekends, are another quick fix option for smaller issues. According to Fulmer, these are an excellent choice for conditions like ear infections, UTIs, and strep throat. They can also be used to treat poison ivy rashes, minor sprains, and injuries that do not need sutures.

Nurse practitioners typically work there, and since there is a pharmacy on site, you can frequently fill prescriptions concurrently. Some, like the MinuteClinics at CVS stores, have staff trained to flag problematic prescriptions in your medical record and forward a report of your visit along with any necessary follow-up to your primary care physician.

Can a Virtual Visit Help?

If you need same-day care but do not know where to turn, telehealth—where you “see” a healthcare practitioner on your computer, tablet, or smartphone—can be helpful.

According to Terry Fulmer, RN, PhD, “you can speak with someone who can determine if you need to be seen in person [which would require an emergency department] or if they can just call in a prescription and wait 24 hours.”

Ask whether your doctor’s office is a part of a medical center that offers on-demand video care if they are unable to schedule a virtual session. Some services allow you to fill out a form with your symptoms and a doctor will contact you within an hour; they are best suited for ailments that are obviously not emergencies. Similar services are offered by several health insurance.