Urgent care clinic or emergency room? Poisonings
Poisonings be it drug-related or food-related can be dangerous to your long term health as nerve and organ damage are a possibility. The question then becomes what to do when faced with a case of poisoning since time is always of the essence. Some may opt for an urgent care clinic citing cost effectiveness and fast service but a sharp contrast proves that an ER is the best place to visit. An ER of the capacity and operational efficiency of frontlineer.com will undoubtedly respond to your case of poisoning in a fast and coordinated manner that will ensure your health is the priority being considered. So is it an urgent care clinic or an emergency room for poisonings?
Urgent care clinics
With urgent care clinics mushrooming all over with the promise of faster and cheaper medical attention, the real fact is that they are only equipped to handle a lower scope of conditions. When compared to an ER that has all the necessary equipment and medical experts on call, it is evident why any case of poisoning should be addressed at an emergency room. The fact that an urgent care clinic is a walk-in facility that is seldom open for a 24-hours means that you may face inconsistent service when looking to have your poisoning condition treated during late hours and at night. There is only so much an urgent care clinic can do as a center for unscheduled medical care since they are only required to have atleast one licensed physician operating as medical director. This pales in comparison to an ER which has multiple doctors and specialists at hand to handle the varied cases that come along of which poisoning is a part of. It is therefore no wonder that urgent care clinics are required to have direct communication lines with ERs like frontlineer.com and by extension hospitals.
ER
What brings about case of poisoning?
As mentioned earlier, poisonings can either be food-related, drug-related or chemical-related. However, the most common poisoning documented stems from foodborne illnesses. These foodborne illnesses come about from eating contaminated food. Drug-related poisonings often manifest when you take more than the prescribed dose or simply get an overdose of recreational drugs. Chemical-related poisoning comes from ingesting harmful substances and chemicals. What is surely evident and is supported by all ER physicians and nurses is the fact that any foreign bacteria, virus or parasite ingested has the potential to cause poisoning and that an ER visit is the best decision.
Symptoms of poisonings
Nausea and vomiting
These are the most notable and common symptoms of poisonings and also rank among the earliest signs of a poisoning. As reported by frontlineer.com which is a renowned ER when it comes to top of the range medical diagnosis and treatment, nausea and vomiting are usually signs that the body is battling foreign ingested materials which need to be expelled.
Cramps and stomach pain
These usually manifest immediately after or sometimes at the same time as the bouts of nausea and vomiting. Cramps and stomach pain point to a chronic infection that has to be treated to avoid damage to organs of the body.
Frequent diarrhea
Due to the poisoning, you will definitely experience frequent diarrhea as the body tries to eject foreign elements as well as cleanse the system. This is a huge sign that you are experiencing some poisoning episode.
Mild to acute dehydration
This is more a consequence of other symptoms namely vomiting and diarrhea. Mild to acute diarrhea often comes about hours after other symptoms have manifested.
Fatigue, fever, dizziness, headache, dry mouth
All these point to the body using available energy and resource to fight the poison in the system which means other organs get to suffer and hence the symptoms.
Loss of consciousness
In severe situations, a case of poisoning can lead to loss of consciousness but this often comes about after all other symptoms have manifested without any medical attention.
Life threatening dehydration and even organ failure
If a poison is fast acting or you fail to get immediate medical attention at the closest ER, you can experience life threatening dehydration and possible organ failure as the immune system struggles to fight the toxins.
What will be done at an ER
Rehydration
One of the initial actions that will be taken at an ER is rehydration using IV fluids. This ensure that dehydration is controlled before a treatment procedure is put in place.
Use of antibiotics
Most cases of poisonings can be treated using antibiotics after a determination has been made on the kind and extent of the poisoning. This is where an ER facility like frontlineer.com becomes crucial since all the diagnostic equipment and experts needed for the extensive tests are readily available and on-site.
Monitoring kidney and nerve damage
A differentiating factor for emergency rooms and urgent care clinics is the extent of monitoring and facilities needed for the same. With urgent care clinics, an observation and monitoring facility may be limited or non-existent but an ER will surely have the capacity to handle all monitoring for kidney and nerve damage.
Test stool and urine
The extensive tests for the source of poisoning start from urine and stool and may extent to the blood tests to completely understand the nature of the poison and the mode of entry so as to effectively treat the same.
The bottom line
Personalized care in the case of poisonings is very important and this is where ER facilities including frontlineer.com come into the forefront of medical care. Systemic monitoring and treatment are crucial in the early stages of a poisoning case and these are elements of medical care that are better provided at ERs than urgent care clinics.
