Difference Between Emergency and Urgent Care

Emergency vs Urgent Care

Emergency room and urgent care are services for the immediate treatment of seriously injured persons and persons having other health conditions. Sometimes these two terms are considered the same as both services are for emergency needs. But the fact is that there are some fundamental differences between the two.

In case of a colleague collapsing at the office or your child getting hurt, you generally rush then to a hospital’s emergency room. But nowadays, this concept has changed, and they are treated at the urgent room.

The urgent care centers normally take care of non-life-threatening conditions like broken arms or legs and other simple health conditions. In urgent care centers, there would not be any facilities for attending serious conditions or life-threatening conditions like heart failure or stroke. The emergency centers provide facilities for life-threatening conditions.

Now let us see what advantages come with emergency rooms. The emergency rooms have expert medical practitioners who are able to provide medical assistance to all serious illnesses. They are also available 24 hours a day and provide care for all patients who are admitted regardless of their financial position.

Some of the advantages with regard to urgent care is that the medical practitioners will be more familiar with a patient’s medical history. In the urgent care facility, the patients get immediate care. Moreover, the treatment in urgent care is less expensive. Unlike the emergency room care, the facilities in urgent care are not available 24 hours a day. Almost all the urgent care centers have set times.

You can visit emergency centers if you have chest pain, difficulty in breathing, uncontrolled bleeding, severe pain, persistent vomiting, continuous diarrhea, vision problems, large wounds, major injuries, head injury, spinal injury and major burns. A person has to visit urgent care in cases of sprains, minor infections, small wounds, minor broken bones, minor burns, rashes, and pelvic infections.

Summary:

1.The urgent care centers normally take care of non-life-threatening conditions like broken arms or legs and other simple health conditions. The emergency centers provide facilities for life-threatening conditions.
2.The emergency centers are available 24 hours a day and provide care for all patients who are admitted regardless of their financial position. The facilities in urgent care are not available 24 hours a day. Almost all the urgent care centers have set times.
3.Unlike the treatment in emergency centers, the treatment in urgent care is less expensive.

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