When to Go to Pediatric Urgent Care vs ER?

Urgent care clinics are popping up all throughout the US, and for good reason: they’re great places to go during non-emergency situations. This kind of situation is one that isn’t life-threatening, and it’s the only kind of situation urgent care is equipped to handle. The ER, however, is for situations that could be or are life-threatening. These are emergency situations.

There are many reasons to go to urgent care. For one, urgent care clinics are also walk-in clinics, so they take on patients without appointments, and there are virtually no wait times. Also, urgent care clinics are open outside of standard business hours and over the weekend, so you can rely on them to be there for your family when you need them. You can go to urgent care during any non-emergency situation such as:
 
• Minor cuts (so long as the bleeding can be controlled)
• Physical exams (even annual physicals)
• Fever (only for fever in children older than 3 months—younger children must be taken to the ER)
• Minor fractures, strains, or sprains
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea
• Asthma, allergies, and minor allergic reactions
• Common infections
• And others
 
You might be thinking that the ER is just the best place to go no matter what the situation is, but this isn’t so. This is because the ER has significant wait times for patients with non-emergency situations, but urgent care doesn’t, and the ER can be expensive for non-emergencies. Urgent care is generally cheaper than the ER for non-emergencies, and they accept most major insurances, so you can expect your visit to be covered. Remember, though, you cannot go to urgent care for emergency situations.

Whenever a situation is or could be life-threatening, or if you’re unsure, then you must go to the ER, not urgent care. Urgent care is for non-emergencies only, so if you go there during an emergency situation, they won’t be able to provide the appropriate kind of service and they’ll send you to the ER. During an emergency situation, you should always call 911 and go to the ER.

Another of the great thing about urgent care is that they accept patients of any age, including seniors and children. Here at Priority Urgent Care, we treat children and young adults of any age, but children must be accompanied by a parent or responsible adult.

Here at our clinic, we offer the following services for children of any age, including infants, as well as young adults:
 
• Stitches (remember, for minor cuts only!)
• Pediatric urgent care (which is urgent care for children)
• Pediatric chronic illness care (for young patients with chronic conditions like asthma)
• Lab testing (with our onsite laboratory)
• X-rays (we have an onsite X-ray machine too)
• Vaccinations
• Bloodwork
• Allergy treatment
• And more
 
If you believe your child would benefit from any of our services (and if you’re sure that your child’s health situation is minor), then come see us here at Priority Urgent Care! We can see your child for a walk-in appointment. We serve patients from Ellington CT, Unionville CT, East Haven CT, Cromwell CT, Oxford, CT and Newington, CT, and BEYOND!