Emergency Care When You Need it? 10 Tips
Injuries and health conditions are things that are almost inevitable as far as all of us are concerned. This means that we are bound to suffer an injury or from a health condition at one time or the other. There are lots of different injuries and health conditions one can suffer, all of which varying in severity. There those that are usually not that serious and at most one can go to an urgent care or any hospital and get treated. However, there are cases that are very serious and as such one needs to seek immediate emergency care. According to research and from personal experience from those who have ever been to an emergency room, emergency room visits can turn out to be quite expensive, especially for those without medical insurance, while the waiting times can also be quite long. As such, most people try as much as possible to avoid going there. However, there are instances where, try as you may, you can’t get away from the fact that you need emergency care. This article will look to highlight 10 tips to help you tell when you need emergency care.
The first tip to tell when you need emergency care is checking on your breathing. As a rule of thumb, if you are having difficulties breathing, then you need to seek emergency care as soon as possible. Shortness of breath, shallow breathing or any other difficulties breathing usually indicate serious conditions such as a heart attack, a severe asthma attack among others and should never be ignored, no matter the circumstance.
Another tip as far as knowing when to seek emergency care is checking if you are experiencing chest or upper abdominal pain. This can be pain or a feeling of pressure and is usually accompanied with difficulties breathing. It is always recommended that if you start to experience chest pain, tightening of the chest or a feeling of pressure, then you should seek immediate emergency care as soon as possible.
Another instance, one that is usually not mentioned among those instances requiring emergency care, is one where one is having suicidal or homicidal feelings and thoughts, which is our next tip. If one starts to have thoughts of hurting themselves or others, then taking them for immediate emergency care to be seen by a medical professional should be next on the agenda.
As far as vomiting and diarrhea is concerned, then the next tip as far as telling if one needs emergency care is by checking the severity of the same. If one is experiencing severe vomiting and diarrhea, then as per the subject matter experts over at frontlineer.com, they should seek immediate emergency care as this can lead to dehydration which can be life-threatening if left unchecked.
The next tip if you are looking to know if you need emergency care is by checking if you are vomiting or coughing blood. If you find yourself experiencing vomiting and coughing of blood, then you should seek immediate emergency care as this could be indicative of a bleeding ulcer, a serious lung disease in the case of coughing blood as well as tumors in the esophagus or stomach.
Another tip that should alert you that you need to seek emergency care is if you start to experience sudden dizziness, fainting, body weakness or you even lose mobility. These are signs that you are suffering from a heart attack, stroke, severe dehydration among other serious conditions. The aforementioned conditions, as is covered in detail over at frontlineer.com, are medical emergencies that have to be taken very seriously.
The next tip as far as knowing when you need emergency care is concerned has to do with one’s mental status and behavior. If you start to experience changes in your mental status, and for instance you start to act confused, disoriented as well as developing speech difficulties, then you should seek emergency care as soon as possible as these are clear signs of major conditions such as severe dehydration, stroke among others.
Speaking of stroke, another tip if you are to tell when you need emergency care has to do with your vision. If you start to experience changes in your vision such as double vision or even partial or complete loss of vision, then you should seek emergency care as soon as possible. This is because, as is covered in detail over at frontlineer.com, this is a sign of stroke and as such it should be taken very seriously.
For instances that involve bleeding, the next tip as far as knowing if we need emergency care is checking the severity of bleeding. If the bleeding is so severe that one is unable to stem it, even after applying pressure for up to 20 minutes, then you should seek immediate emergency care to have the wound assessed and bleeding stopped to prevent excessive blood loss, which can be fatal.
If you start to experience sudden, severe pain, then you should also seek immediate emergency care, making this our next tip. This is because, as per frontlineer.com, most serious conditions, all of which are medical emergencies, are associated with sudden, severe pain. Appendicitis for instance comes with sudden, severe abdominal pain. A severe, sudden onset headache could indicate a brain aneurism while sudden, severe shooting pain in the left arm could be indicative of a heart attack.
There are of course other tips as far as knowing when to seek emergency care, all of which can be found in detail over at frontlineer.com.
