Where should I go, the Emergency Room?

Call your health plan or physician for advice and direction when possible. Health Plans offer 24-hour nurse consultation and can advise you whether to go to urgent care or wait until your doctor’s office opens.

Emergency Room

An emergency medical condition is a medical or psychiatric condition that shows itself by rapid onset symptoms severe enough (including severe pain) that you could reasonably expect the following results if you did not receive immediate medical attention:

• Serious jeopardy to your health
• Serious impairment in your bodily function
• Serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part

In life-threatening situations, call 911 or go directly to the nearest emergency room. Emergency room visits may involve longer wait times because order of treatment is based on severity of illness, not arrival time.

Symptoms best handled in an Emergency Room or Hospital include:

• Sudden weakness or difficulty talking
• Chest pain or pressure which may radiate to the arms, neck, back, shoulder, jaw, arm, or wrist
• Severe shortness of breath
• Heavy bleeding
• Severe head injuries
• Major burns
• Spinal injuries
• Sudden onset of severe abdominal pain
• Sudden decrease in or loss of consciousness
• Sudden inability to talk or to move one side of the body, or sudden slurred speech