A trip to the emergency clinic is no one’s idea of a good time. Still, when a medical emergency strikes, it’s good to know that there are resources available to see you through these trying times.
In order to get the most out of your emergency clinic trip, it’s important to understand what to bring and what to expect when you arrive. Over the next two posts, we will dive into both of these issues.
This first post will focus on the former issue: what to bring and how to prepare for your trip to the emergency room.
What to Bring
When you’re going to the emergency room or clinic, it’s important to make sure that you’re prepared with both documents and information. Your doctors and nurses will need a great deal of information in order to offer you the best possible emergency medical care.
Most importantly you should bring the following:
- Your complete insurance Information, if you have it.
- A list of all medications you’re currently taking. That includes “over the counter” medicines, herbal remedies, and even dietary supplements. You should also be able to tell the doctors when and what amount you took your last dose.
- Your medical history, including chronic conditions and recent medical procedures.
- A list of all allergies, including medication allergies. This can reduce the risk of complications during any treatment.
- The name and contact information for your primary care doctor and your pharmacy.
- Next of kin information.
- Your social security card or other form of photo ID.
How to Prepare for the ER
Preparing for a trip to the ER may or may not be possible, depending on the severity of your ailment. Still, it’s always best to call ahead. There are several reasons for that: for starters, you will be able to give the medical team there a heads up. That way, if you or a loved one are experiencing a life-threatening or critically serious injury, or if they are among the four million individuals giving birth each year, they will be able to prepare before you arrive, saving precious minutes.
If, on the other hand, the injury is not life-threatening, they can give you an idea of how busy the emergency room is and give you an idea of how long you might be waiting. In some cases, they might even divert you to an urgent care center or to minor emergency services that might be able to treat less severe emergencies more quickly and more attentively than the emergency clinic.
This concludes the first portion of our deep dive into emergency clinics. Hopefully, you now understand how to prepare for a trip to the emergency care services. In the next installment, we’ll look at what you can expect once you arrive at the emergency clinic.