As a 55 year old mother of two daughters you have your own memories about going to the doctor. For you, growing up with asthma five decades ago was kind of a challenge. In the 1960s there was not any childhood asthma medication available; there were not rescue inhalers prescribed. When you were young you would simply lay in bed and worry about your breathing. Wondering just when it was bad enough to merit waking up one or both of your parents, you would stack pillows under your head in an effort to catch your breath. You would chew a minty gum, drink ice water, and try to relax. When none of these methods worked, you would get dressed, walk down the hall, waker your parents, and go to the car.
In the 1960s when you were in the middle of an asthma attack late at night there was only one option: to go to the hospital emergency room. The doctor often kept you overnight as you finally found a way to breath again. With a combination of a steroid shot and an oxygen mask, you would finally sleep. Completely exhausted from the hours you suffered before telling your parents, you would sleep as long as the doctors and nurses would allow.
Urgent Care Settings Offer a Number of Services
Asthma attacks and other breathing disorders can be scary, but they do not always merit a trip to the emergency room. Fortunately, today there are many walk in clinics that provide care for people who are in the beginning stages of an asthma attack. And while it is necessary to rush to the hospital when a young infant is in breathing distress, many older children and adults do not require such expensive medical care.
Today’s urgent care settings provide x-rays, oxygen, flu shots, sports physicals, as well as a while list of other needed services. Realizing that it is an important to be a wise consumer as it is to be a patient can help you safe both time and money when it comes to getting the care that you need. And while a hospital emergency room can mean hours of waiting while doctors care for more serious emergencies, a walk in clinic patient is often seen within 15 to 30 minutes. Even a family physician may not be able to care for an overnight illness or injury without a significant wait. In the office of a family physician, or pediatrician for that matter, appointments are made weeks, if not months, in advance. These tight appointment schedules often leave little room for call in appointments.
As many as 3 million patients visit urgent care centers each week, according to the Urgent Care Association of America. These patients are seen by the 20,000 physicians who practice Urgent Care Medicine today. The next time that you or a family member need middle of the night care, it is important that you rely on the realities of today instead of the memories of your childhood and get the convenient and affordable care that you need.