By Lisa Clough, ms ed.m CHES
Primary Care
For non-urgent conditions, start with your primary care physician (PCP) or pediatrician. A primary care physician (PCP) is a doctor who provides ongoing, comprehensive healthcare for a wide range of less urgent health concerns for adults.
Pediatricians serve a similar role for children. They are the first point of contact for patients for preventive care, diagnosis and treatment of various acute and chronic conditions, and they can refer patients to specialists.
While PCPs and pediatricians can diagnose illnesses and help with sickness, they can also help when you are feeling good by working with you to develop healthy lifestyle habits that may prevent serious health conditions and keep you feeling well.
You and your children should go to your primary care physician or pediatrician for:
Cough or sore throat
Nausea or diarrhea
Rash or minor burns
Minor fever, cold
Eye pain/irritation
Back pain
Bumps, cuts, scrapes
Stitches
Mild asthma
Burning with urination
Ear or sinus pain
Allergic reactions
Minor headache
Immunizations
Sprains and strains
Animal bites
Urgent Care Center
Can’t get in to see your PCP or pediatrician but it’s not a life-threatening condition? Urgent care can help.
Doctors who work at urgent care centers provide immediate medical care for non- life-threatening conditions that need attention within 24 hours outside of regular office hours but are not severe enough to warrant an emergency department visit.
Urgent care doctors often have training in both family medicine and emergency medicine to be able to treat a wide variety of conditions. And urgent care centers oftentimes have on-site X-ray capabilities for diagnosing minor sprains, strains and fractures.
For your children, identify an urgent care in your area that has a pediatrician or other pediatric medical specialists.
You and your children should go to urgent care for these conditions when you cannot reach your primary care physician or pediatrician:
Abdominal pain
Cough or sore throat
Nausea or persistent diarrhea
Rash or minor burns
Fever without a rash
Minor fever
Moderate flu-like symptoms
Eye pain/irritation
Back pain
Bumps, cuts, scrapes
Stitches
Mild asthma
Burning with urination
Ear or sinus pain
Allergic reactions
Minor headache
Immunizations
Sprains and strains
Animal bites
Dehydration
Emergency Room
Chest pain, acute onset illness or severe injuries that need more attention than a PCP or pediatrician can provide warrant a visit to the emergency department.
Emergency department (ED) physicians are specially trained physicians who work in emergency departments to provide immediate care 24/7 for patients with acute and life-threatening injuries or illnesses. Emergency physicians are trained in how to stabilize patients, perform a wide variety of procedures and make critical decisions under pressure.
They collaborate with many other healthcare professionals to ensure the most comprehensive care.
For children, identify a local hospital in your area with a pediatric emergency department.
These EDs have pediatric emergency physicians and other healthcare professionals specially trained to support the emergency healthcare needs of children, often including child life specialists to help children cope with medical trauma.
If you think you or your child is having a health emergency, trust your instincts and call
911 or go to the nearest emergency department.
Go to the emergency department when you have a condition that needs immediate medical attention:
Chest pain
Suspected overdose
or poisoning
Severe bleeding
or burns
Deep wounds
Head trauma
Severe headaches
Loss of conscious
Seizures
Difficulty breathing/
severe asthma
Stroke symptoms
Spinal injuries
Severe abdominal pain
Severe allergic
reactions
Situations that require CPR, intubation or advanced imaging
Anaphylaxis
Diabetic emergency
Mental health crisis
Sexual assault
Broken bones or dislocated joints
Vaginal bleeding when pregnant
Fever with rash
Facial lacerations
Lisa Clough is a health journalist and Certified Health Education Specialist.
