Your child's fever spikes. You have painful abdominal cramps. Your aging parent suddenly has difficulty walking. If you're faced with a medical emergency, knowing how to respond can help you get the care you need.

"Every person and situation is different," says Donald Reisch, MD, an Emergency Department physician at Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center. "People should definitely visit the Emergency Department if they're at risk of losing their lives or limbs. But we also encourage people to come in if they have a condition that may get worse over time, if they don't have any other place to obtain care or if they aren't sure whether or not their condition is a true emergency."

Common emergencies
Emergency Department physicians are highly trained subspecialists who provide advanced and innovative care that can save lives and improve patients' long-term outcomes. The American College of Emergency Physicians recommends that you seek immediate emergency care if you or someone you know experiences any of these symptoms:

• Chest pain or pressure
• Severe or sudden pain
• Bleeding that can't be controlled
• A severe allergic reaction
• Breathing difficulty
• Coughing up or vomiting blood
• Sudden weakness, dizziness or changes in vision
• Severe and/or continuous diarrhea or vomiting
• Sudden changes in mental status or consciousness
• Seizures

"If a person develops unusual symptoms, he or she shouldn't wait to seek care," Dr. Reisch says. "People who have a stroke, for example, don't feel pain so they often wait hours to see if their symptoms improve. But if they wait more than three hours before coming to the Emergency Department, we can't give them medication that could save their lives or limit the damage caused by the stroke."

When in doubt
You may want to call your doctor for advice when you're faced with a medical situation that is not life-threatening. But if you're not sure if you or someone you know needs emergency care, experts say you should err on the side of caution.

"Seconds often count when an emergency strikes," says Lou Huff, RN, MA, Director of Emergency Services at Desert Springs Hospital. "So when in doubt, people should seek emergency care right away."

For more information about emergency care, visit www.desertspringshospital.net and click on Health Information in the left column. Under Look It Up on the left side of the next page, click Common Complaints and scroll down to Emergency Care. For information about medical emergencies, click on Health Information and then click on Health Emergencies.

The Valley Health System c/o Valley Hospital Medical Center 620 Shadow Lane Las Vegas, NV 89106