When Should You Go to Urgent Care vs ER?

Depending on if the individual needs life-threatening or limb-threatening medical treatment or not. Urgent cares are relatively faster for wait times, as they offer walk-in and appointment service, and tend to get you in and out as fast as possible to help as many as possible. However, the Emergency Room is available for anyone that may need life-dependent or limb-dependent medical treatment, as the ER will take whoever needs emergency medical attention first.

While they both have their pros and cons as to why each is better during certain situations, when it comes down to it going to visit urgent care is a lot faster for wait times than most emergency rooms. However urgent care does not provide life-threatening or limb-threatening treatment, please call 9-1-1 or go to the nearest hospital.

The main difference between urgent care and emergency care is the emergency departments are available to the public and are meant to address the most serious of life-threatening and limb-threatening health issues. While urgent cares are open to the public and available to address urgent related, same-day issues that are not life-threatening. A few of the reasons you can visit urgent care are:

Illness
• Allergies
• Asthma
• Bites & Rashes
• Infections
• Strep Throat etc.

Injury
• Broken Bones
• Puncture Wounds
• Strain & Sprains
• Burns
• Sunburns etc.

Prevention
• Vaccines
• STD Testing
• DOT Physicals
• Digital X-rays
• Blood Work etc.

All of these urgent services and more are available at UCare Urgent Care and Walk-In Clinic.

An accident or immediate need for medical attention can interrupt your day without any warning. When your family doctor isn’t available, it can become stressful as to where you need to go for medical treatment. However, you have options when it comes to medical care in your area.

Everyone is very familiar with hospitals and their access to emergency rooms (ER), but the other options for immediate medical care are Urgent Care.

Emergency Rooms in hospitals are best if you have a true emergency situation, call 9-1-1 or visit your nearest hospital emergency room if you or someone else is experiencing life-threatening symptoms or situations like:

• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Severe trauma or head injury
• Severe bleeding or bleeding that will not stop
• Loss of consciousness

These are all life or limb-threatening situations that need to be handled by a hospital emergency room. However, consider an urgent care center for any situations that are not life-threatening including:

• Animal bites
• Broken Bones
• Cough, Flu, or Cold Symptoms
• Cuts that may require stitches
• Earaches or Sinus Pain
• Minor burns or rashes
• Minor headaches or breathing problems (like asthma)
• School or Sports injuries
• UTI Infections or STD Testing
• Vomiting, diarrhea or stomach and belly pain

Our urgent care clinic is available to offer urgent medical care for these and many more at UCare Urgent Care and Walk-In Clinic, we have onsite digital x-ray machines, laboratories for blood work and UTI/STD testing, as well as other services on-site to help you make your visit has efficient as possible.

Urgent cares are available to provide a combination of benefits to the public that your primary care doctor and local hospital emergency rooms can’t. A few of the major benefits hospital emergency rooms offer are:

1. Better available hours than your primary or family doctor
2. Urgent cares save you money
3. Offer convenient, fast, and efficient service for your urgent care needs
4. No appointments are necessary!
5. Urgent cares have the ability to treat serious problems that are not life or limb-threatening

For more information about our services or an appointment with us at UCare Urgent Care and Walk-In Clinic, we welcome you to call us, schedule an appointment through our website. We serve patients from El Paso TX, Horizon City TX, Lee Trevino Drive TX, Fort Bliss TX, Mission Valley TX, Resler Canyon TX, Alfalfa TX, Montwood TX, and BEYOND.