A Defense of Urgent Care: Why you shouldn't feed the ER hospital beast.
Immediate medical needs might not require an ER visit.
I was having a lovely day. Then I got the call. My 16-year-old daughter had decided to practice her fainting skills at school. And apparently she was excellent at it.
When I got there, she was holding her head like she’d been hit with a sledgehammer, thanks to a migraine that had caused her to pass out. She was still woozy even after regaining consciousness. So naturally I thought, "Let's go on a little adventure to the emergency room."
The drive to the hospital should have been a quick 15 minutes. Easy, right? Wrong. Halfway there, she moans, loud, and completely passes out again. Which of course means I transform from mild-mannered Dad into a getaway driver from a bad action movie, frantically trying to get to that ER. I had no idea what was happening—maybe she was being melodramatic, or maybe she was dying. Who knew?
We ran into the emergency room doors, expecting a scene straight out of a medical drama. But instead of bustling nurses and dramatic music, I was met with… nothing. No one was there. A kind soul passing by found us a wheelchair and I started our quest through the ER labyrinth.
First stop: a deputy with a metal detector. Because who doesn't need a security check when they're unconscious, right?
Next, we plunged into a sea of people in the waiting room. I was ready to scream, “This is an emergency!” but it seemed everyone else was in the same boat we were. I flagged down somebody in scrubs and blurted out that my daughter was unconscious. After a few agonizing minutes that may as well had been an eternity, more medical personnel arrived. One of them lifted my daughter’s head, let it flop back down with a clank on the metal bar behind her and said, with the enthusiasm of a DMV employee, “Yup – she’s out.”
She was unconscious for over 1 hour.
She turned out to be fine. Her vitals were normal, they did an MRI on her head, and all was well. Perhaps the migraines caused it. Once she actually got a room and started receiving care, I appreciated the staff and their expertise. But getting there was like navigating a bizarre obstacle course. I now know that ambulances go to another ER room entrance.
This whole escapade highlighted a major problem: emergency room overcrowding. Here are a few reasons why:
There are a lot of people with non-serious issues, the kind that don’t require sirens and flashing lights.
Many treat the ER like their primary care doctor because it’s cheap and/or free to them.
Once you're in, you might as well bring a picnic. You could be waiting for hours or even days while they "run more tests."
Enter Urgent Care, the unsung hero of minor medical mishaps. It’s faster and (usually) won’t make your wallet cry. And they can help guide you on whether the hospital is necessary or if the issue might be resolved without the ER visit.
Case in point: My son with Down syndrome once swallowed something that made him wheeze like an old accordion. A quick trip to urgent care, and an X-ray revealed a dime in his throat. Their advice was clear: “Go to the hospital.” Good advice, since a dime in the lungs spells trouble, but one on a digestive joyride is usually okay. We took him to the hospital, where was triaged appropriately since he already had the diagnosis. They performed the delicate dime removal and we were sent on our way.
So, next time you’re considering whether you need emergency care, remember that you have options! Urgent Care can save you time, money, and oftentimes sanity. Emergency rooms should be kept for actual emergencies.
So stay informed, make smart choices, and keep those ER drama scenes where they belong—on TV.
Blessings.