Americans young and old will sometimes need medical care, and today’s robust healthcare industry is always ready to help. If a victim needs help, then a nearby responsible party may look up the right sort of healthcare for them, such as entering “pedi center near me” or “urgent care nearby” into a PC or a smartphone. The seeker may also specify “24 hour pedi center” or “24 hour emergency care nearby” if the victim needs help at an odd time of day. A web search like this will list healthcare clinics of the necessary type, and show the name, address, and hours of operation of each one. A pedi center, or pediatric clinic, specializes in treating patients younger than 18, such as children or even babies. Urgent care centers, from pedi centers to walk in clinics, can be found nearly anywhere. And what about the emergency room for more serious cases?
Knowing When to Get Emergency Care
Emergency and urgent care many sound similar at first, but in fact they are two very different fields of medicine. Emergency care, for its part, concerns itself with major and life-threatening medical cases that urgent care centers can’t handle. A patient’s very life may be saved when they are rushed to a hospital ER or to an emergency care clinic. A patient may have a broken arm or leg, for example, or they may have suffered an injury to their head or eyes. Difficulty breathing or major chest pain also merit a visit to emergency services, a these conditions may soon turn life-threatening at any moment (if they aren’t already). The same is true if the patient has suffered bullet wounds or stab wounds that are bleeding heavily. And as for abdominal pain, most abdominal pain cases are not dangerous, but if the pain is sudden, severe, and/or long lasting, then emergency care options are the safest route to take.
Emergency care can save a life, but it is very time consuming and expensive to visit emergency services for a minor medical case that could be better handled at an urgent care center. Fortunately, if it is not clear what level of care a victim may need, that person can be taken to a hybrid clinic. These clinics offer emergency and medical care side by side for maximum flexibility.
Urgent Care For Adults and Children
In contrast to emergency care, urgent care centers handle minor, non life-threatening medical cases. What is more, this field is known as “convenient care” since these clinics are faster and more affordable to visit than most emergency services are. In fact, a walk in clinics that is running smoothly may see three patients per hour, and a guest may expect a wait time of around 15 minutes or so. Over 2,000 urgent care centers can be found across the United States today, and all cities and most towns have at least a few of them. These clinics tend to be small and independent, though they may form small local networks with each other. These clinic are typically staffed with nurse practitioners and physicians.
If a child is hurt, that child’s parents or guardians may look up “pedi center near me” or “good pediatrician clinics nearby” and take the young victim there. Most urgent care centers expect adult patients, but pediatrician clinics will have pediatric doctors on staff who can handle younger patients. These doctors are experts on the anatomy of children and babies, and they are familiar with common illnesses and conditions that young patients often experience.
A guest at an urgent care clinic may visit to get a prescription drug refill at the clinic’s pharmacy, and a patient may also get medicinal relief from the common cold or flu while there. Also, around 80% of walk in clinics offer services to treat bone fractures, and nearly all urgent care clinics can also treat a sprained wrist or ankle (those are common injuries). A guest may get stitches or bandages for shallow cuts at the hands of the nurses on staff, and patients may also get ointment or lotion applied to sunburns or skin rashes. Meanwhile, upper respiratory issues are another common reason for patients to visit an urgent care clinic.
