Sometimes, when your child is ill or in pain, determining whether the situation is an emergency or not can be challenging. You are committed to protecting your child from disease, accidents, and injuries so even small issues can feel as if they are devastating. However, you need to be capable of determining the difference when the time comes. This can be the difference between waiting for your doctor to have an appointment open, visiting an urgent care, or heading to the emergency room.
Urgent Care Centers
When you visit a pediatric urgent care, the staff are there to offer the same treatment as your typical pediatrician but when that physician may not be available. These clinics are there to provide you with information and education to keep your child as healthy as possible. One of the things that are crucial for parents if understanding when to visit the emergency room and when to visit the urgent care.
What to Expect
If you have little experience with urgent care, you should know that these centers are there to treat minor and moderate medical conditions before they require emergency care. Your pediatric urgent care in New Jersey will offer plenty of benefits to the emergency room for injuries or illnesses. You can expect to spend less time waiting for care in most cases.
Extra Benefits
You will also find that urgent care is less expensive than an emergency room. This is especially true for those who do not carry health insurance. Those who do have insurance will find that co-pay for urgent care is often cheaper for urgent care rather than an emergency room. Beyond that, your New Jersey urgent care will have the equipment, tools, and devices needed to help your child on-site.
Reasons to Visit the Emergency Room
While an urgent care facility can be a reasonable option for situations that don’t include an actual emergency, the emergency room is still useful in many cases. There are some of the reasons you should seek out a hospital instead:
- Extreme fever
- Vomiting or coughing up blood
- Seizures
- Head trauma with loss of consciousness
- Severe shortness of breath
- Poisoning
New Jersey Health Care
If your child’s medical issue is less severe, consider the services of Central Jersey Urgent Care. We provide specialized services for infants and children who need medical assistance.