Pediatrician, Urgent Care or Emergency Care? Know Where to Take Your Child.

When your child has an injury or illness at a time when the pediatrician’s office is closed, it can be hard to know what to do.

Should you take them to an urgent care center or the emergency department, or should you wait until his/her doctor’s office is open?

Both ERs and urgent care centers are positioned to help care for your child in unique ways. Where you go can make a difference in what medical equipment and tools are available to fully assess your child.

A child’s pediatrician, or primary care doctor, is generally the best person to see for regular medical care for a child. When you have questions about your child’s health, when your child is not feeling well during regular office hours, or when you are planning for any of the following health needs, call their pediatrician for:

• Checkups
• Physicals and sports physicals
• Flu shots and other vaccines
• Common illnesses and injuries

Stay home and contact your child’s doctor if your child has:

• Low-grade fever
• Fatigue
• Cough
• Congestion
• Sore throat
• Diarrhea

Find a Children's primary care facility.

But what about when your doctor isn’t available, like at night and on weekends?

“If your child or teen is suffering from an illness or injury that isn’t chronic or life-threatening, and your pediatrician is unavailable, a pediatric urgent care center may be the best place to go,” says Deidre Stewart, MD, an area practice director for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Urgent Care. “When possible, choosing a pediatric urgent care center will give you access to doctors and nurses who are specially trained to diagnose and care for kids.”

A pediatric urgent care center can handle a variety of medical issues that need prompt treatment. You can get in line at any urgent care location before you leave home and save time in the waiting room by saving your spot online.

Consider taking your child to a pediatric urgent care center when their regular doctor isn’t available and your child:

• Has a fever accompanied by cold symptoms that you suspect might be the flu.
• Has a minor cut that may need stitches.
• Is tugging at their ear and might have an ear infection.
• Needs an X-ray.
• Has a sore throat with or without white patches on the tonsils.
• May have a sprain or minor bone fracture, and the bone is not coming out of the skin.
• Has mild wheezing but is not having trouble breathing.
• Is having an allergic reaction but is not having trouble breathing.
• Has a mild skin rash.
• Has a possible head injury, but has not lost consciousness.
• Is vomiting or has diarrhea without blood in the stool.
• Has red, inflamed eyes with or without discharge.
• Has a headache or migraine without numbness, tingling or weakness.
• Had a seizure with fever that stops on its own.
• Has a minor burn.

For serious injuries or illnesses, you’ll need to take your child directly to the emergency department.

“Hospital emergency departments are open around-the-clock and are prepared to evaluate and tend to any emergency,” said Mark Griffiths, MD, Emergency Medicine Physician and Medical Director of Emergency Services at Children’s at Hughes Spalding Hospital. "Emergency departments also make sure your child gets to the right place for ongoing care if needed."

Head to the nearest emergency department if your child:

• Is younger than 2 months and has a fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher.
• Has possibly swallowed a button battery.
• Has a suspected fracture with visible swelling or unevenness and bumps in the injured area (a displaced bone requires realignment under sedation).
• Has ingested a poisonous substance or taken too much medicine.
• Has a severe burn, such as deep burns covering large parts of the body surface, or on the face, extremities or genitalia).
• Has hit their head and lost consciousness, even for a few seconds.
• Has difficulty keeping fluids down
• Has changes in alertness or unusual trouble waking
• Has bluish lips or face
• Shows signs of dehydration, including very dry lips and mouth, absence of urination for more than 12 hours, lethargy or confusion.
• Has trouble breathing (including heavy, fast breathing and is gasping for air)
• Has persistent chest pain or pressure
• Has gaping cuts.
• Has a skin rash that is oozing.
• Has a sudden worsening of a complex chronic illness.
• Has a psychiatric issue requiring immediate attention.

If your child's not suffering a life-threatening injury, illness or symptom, and you’re still unsure of where to go, call your pediatrician’s office before deciding between visiting a pediatric urgent care center or emergency department. Even if it’s not during regular office hours, most pediatrician’s offices should have a doctor on call who can advise you on where to take your child.