Sometimes people have medical conditions, illnesses or injuries that they need care for outside of business hours. When this occurs, they will need to go to an emergency room.
An emergency room is a clinic that is designed to deal with life threatening and/or urgent medical problems. Due to the nature of these clinics, they are open 24 hours, 7 days a week.
Using an emergency room is a fairly simple process. All patients need to do is go to the clinic and advise the staff there of their medical problem. The staff will then ask the patient to take a seat until a doctor is available.
As a Sanford emergency room often deals with life-threatening situations such as heart attacks, doctors do not see patients on a first-come, first served basis. Instead, they see the patients based on the severity of their condition. For example, a person who has trouble breathing will be seen faster than someone with a sprained ankle.
Most emergency rooms are located within hospitals or near hospitals. As such, they are staffed with reliable, trained and experienced staff. Most of the staff in emergency rooms have been working there for a while. Due to this, they know how to react quickly and deal with patients in urgent situations.
In most cases, the patients will only be in the emergency room for a few hours. The doctors will either treat them and send them home or admit them to hospital. Some patients will be given a temporary fix and told to see their regular doctor during business hours. An example of this is when a patient has a broken bone. They will be treated however their regular doctor will be expected to provide ongoing care.
Emergency rooms should not be confused with walk-in clinics. A walk-in clinic is essentially a doctor’s office. Unlike emergency rooms, these clinics do not have the staff or equipment to deal with urgent problems such as heart attacks and strokes.
Most patients will find that their health insurance pays for their trip to the emergency room. If a patient is uninsured or has their claim declined, they will be sent a bill. The majority of emergency clinics will not turn down anyone who needs essential medical care.
The role of an emergency clinic is to treat patients who need immediate attention. Many of these patients will come to the clinic late at night or during the weekends. It is at these times that doctors’ offices are closed.
Patients who are experiencing small problems such as skin conditions or colds may not want to use emergency rooms. As these situations are not considered serious, they will be waiting to be seen for a long time. These patients will be better off waiting to see their regular doctor or visiting a walk-in clinic.
An emergency room is an essential medical service. The staff at emergency rooms strive to treat patients as quickly and effectively as possible. For some people, visiting an emergency room could save their lives.
Article written by Cassey Marengo
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