When a medical emergency occurs, it’s important to know what to do. Most people think that the most expedient way to get their immediate needs met is to head to the emergency room. However, there are some issues that can be dealt with much more easily at a Walk In Clinic in Maui. It’s important to know when the services provided at a clinic can meet a patient’s needs, though, and when they really should be going to the ER.
As a general rule of thumb, emergency room visits are best saved for instances where a medical emergency poses an immediate threat of death, or significant harm. This includes issues like chest pain, which sometimes indicates serious conditions such as heart attacks or strokes. Any kind of poisoning or overdose, whether intentional or unintentional, should also be handled by ER doctors rather than an urgent care clinic. Female patients who are in their last trimester of pregnancy and begin experiencing complications should also head to the emergency room.
Other situations are more ambiguous. Acute wounds that are deep and causing severe blood loss should also be dealt with at an emergency room, although smaller wounds, including scrapes and lacerations, can be handled at a clinic. Head injuries are similar: those that are severe and involve loss of consciousness or newly developed seizures require emergency room care. If the person has not lost consciousness, there is no significant bleeding, and he or she is not having seizures, a walk in clinic can typically handle the situation better.
When it comes to acute illness, most colds, flu, sore throats, coughs, and fevers can be treated at an urgent care clinic. However, if the patient is vomiting blood, that’s an indication that more extensive care will be required. Similarly, if the patient’s temperature is running dangerously, rather than just abnormally, high, it’s a good idea to head straight to the ER.
Choosing to go to a Walk In Clinic in Maui instead of the emergency room can, when appropriate, both save patients money, and take some of the burden off of overworked ER doctors. Visit Domain to find out about one local clinic that provides urgent care services to both residents and visitors to the area.
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