Top 5 Reasons to Visit an Emergency Room: Injuries / Falls
Falls are the types of accidents that, try as we may, we may not always be able to legislate against as they can happen pretty much at any time and at any place. You may be walking and you trip and fall, or you may slip on ice and fall, you may be perched up at a high position, maybe pruning leaves or changing a light bulb and you fall, or you may even fall down the stairs; bottom line is, falls can happen at any time. The same applies to most injuries as we may suffer an injury at pretty much any time from working in the kitchen to working in the yard to work related injuries among many others. In most cases, injuries and falls can be handled at home or if they require medical attention, one can always pop into an urgent care facility and get attended to. For falls that are not severe, as is recommended by the subject matter experts over at FrontlineER.com, one can make use of the R.I.C.E method to deal with them as home; that is rest, ice, compress and elevate the injured part of the body. However, there are instances where an injury or a fall is very severe and if not attended to as soon as possible may be life or limb-threatening and therefore requires one to visit an emergency room pronto. Keep reading to find out the top 5 reasons that should lead one to visit an emergency room for the same.
One of the top reasons to visit an emergency room for an injury or a fall is if you suffer a hit to the head during the fall and are showing signs of severe or 3rd grade concussion. As is covered in detail over at FrontlineER.com, if you suffer a fall and bang your head then loss consciousness, even if it momentary, you should ensure you head over to an emergency room as soon as possible to be attended to as passing out is a clear sign that you may have suffered a severe concussion which should always be taken seriously. It is also worth noting that sometimes symptoms of concussion may not manifest themselves immediately and sometimes take up to 24 to 48 hours to develop after suffering the fall. In such instances, red flags to look out for include a severe headache, worse than any one you’ve experienced before, nausea and vomiting, loss of balance and coordination among others. In such a situation you should ensure you visit an emergency room.
Injuries and falls may also result in severe cases of sprains and strains that should also lead to a visit to an emergency room so that you can be attended to. Sprains are injuries to the ligaments, were the injured ligament is either stretched, torn or both with torn ligaments being the severe type that requires a visit to an emergency room. Most common cases of sprains after an injury or a fall are ankle sprains as well as those affecting the knee. Here if you are unable to put weight on the injured part or it becomes detached or buckles completely, you should head over to the emergency room as soon as possible as this is a sign of a severe sprain, where the ligament may have been completely torn. If after the injury or fall the sprained part, be it the knee or ankle, becomes cold to the touch or numbness ensues, then you should also visit an emergency room as soon as possible, among other scenarios.
Another reason that should ensure you visit an emergency room as soon as possible has to do with the area of the body that has been affected. As per the subject matter experts over at FrontlineER.com, if you suffer a fall or injury that affects your neck or back, you should ensure that you visit an emergency room as soon as possible to be assessed as you may have suffered an injury to the spine which should always be taken seriously. The same applies to falls and injuries that affect the upper leg, hip or pelvis, especially if you are unable to move your lower part or it seems you may have fractured your hip.
Injuries and falls may also lead to fractures hence the next reason we have for you as far as visiting an emergency room for the same is if you have suffered a severe fracture, or compound fracture. Signs of this include if you have bone actually protruding from the skin or has broken through the skin exposing underlying tissue as well as the injured area looking deformed. This should always be taken seriously, especially if underlying tissue is exposed so as to prevent the bone from being infected.
If you are also bleeding heavily after an injury or fall, and the bleeding can’t be stemmed even after putting pressure on the injured part for more than 10 minutes, or the blood is coming out in squirts, then you should head over to an emergency room as soon as possible as heavy blood loss is life-threatening. The same should apply in cases where you may have suffered a deep cut that may need to be closed up as soon as possible, as per the gurus over at FrontlineER.com.
The above are the top 5 reasons that should always lead to a visit to an emergency room as far as injuries and falls go, with more on this and other related topics to be found over at FrontlineER.com.
