When to Visit a Paediatric Clinic vs. the Emergency Room?

Sometimes it can be hard to tell when to take your child to a paediatric clinic or a hospital. You want to do the right thing, but you don’t know what is the best fit. If you’re in a panic, you might think the emergency room is the best option. Is it? Sometimes, a trip to the ER is necessary, but as you’ll discover, it’s not always the best choice.

What is a paediatric clinic?

A paediatric clinic is a place that specializes in the care of children. A peediatric clinic won’t treat anyone other than children and they won’t accept anyone who is under the age of 18. You’ll know if you’re in a paediatric clinic because all of the patients are children.

What types of services do paediatric clinics offer?

A pediatric clinic typically offers services to maintain your child’s health. So, if your child has the flu, for example, you’d take them to a clinic. Routine checkups are another thing, and vaccinations are also given at the clinic.

If your child has an ongoing condition, they will also go to a paediatric clinic to receive care. We’re talking about conditions that aren’t life-threatening and require continuous care, such as allergies. You wouldn’t take your child to the emergency room because they have itchy, irritated eyes due to ragweed, so it makes sense that you’d take them to a clinic.

Some paediatric clinics also offer mental health services that might be a one-time thing or a recurring necessity. If your child suffers from depression, for example, you would take them to the clinic to talk to a psychiatrist to make sure that the medicine they’re taking is working.

When should you take your child to the emergency room?

As the name implies, you should take your child to the emergency room when there’s an emergency. We’re talking broken bones, severe life-threatening illnesses that require immediate attention, and uncontrollable bleeding.

If your child has a high fever that won’t go down or if they are vomiting and it won’t stop, you will also need to go to the emergency room. Any time a child ingests something that’s harmful, that’s also another time that you’ll want to go to the emergency room. If your child chugged a gallon of bleach, don’t hesitate to take them to the hospital immediately.

If you’re in doubt, you can always ask your doctor for their opinion. Usually, if you feel that your child’s life is in danger, the best bet is to go to the hospital. If you think that the situation is minor, going to the clinic is the way to go. However, if you’re unsure, ask for an opinion from a healthcare professional because this isn’t something you should fool around with.

Always have your child’s medical records ready

Your child’s medical records are their history and without them, no doctor in any setting will know how to treat them. No one is saying that you need to carry a briefcase full of medical records around with you like a nuclear football, but it’s a good idea to at least know where they are so you can hand them over if something goes down.

If you’re going to a paediatric clinic, you’ll know well enough in advance that you’re going and will be able to get all of that stuff ready. A call to your former or current doctor is all it should take for them to forward your child’s medical records so the clinic knows what they’re dealing with.

Going to the emergency room is a whole different can of worms because you won’t have the time to give them your child’s medical records. You’ll need to tell them right away if they have any medical conditions or allergies they should know about. If it turns out that they’ll be in the hospital longer than you anticipated, you’ll want to get those medical records to them ASAP so you can avoid any confusion.

The answer is paediatric clinics; most of the time

It’s rare for a child to have to go to the emergency room. Most of the care they will receive will be at a paediatric clinic. The rule of thumb is that if the situation isn’t dire, don’t take your child to the emergency room. People misuse the emergency room all the time, and it not only costs you more money but also congests the hospital and makes it difficult for people in need of care to get help.

As always, call your child’s doctor and ask them for advice when in doubt. If it can wait, save cash and headaches by taking your child to the paediatric clinic. The care will be much better, and you won’t have to deal with the rat race we all know as the hospital.

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