This post is sponsored by Children’s Mercy Kansas City.
The inevitable happened – a broken bone, illness or another ailment for your child. And it happened while your doctor’s office is closed. So, the dilemma every parent faces … do you go to the Emergency Room (ER) or Urgent Care?
Generally speaking, urgent cares are designed to save unnecessary trips to the ER, and are usually easier to access, have shorter wait times and cost less than an ER visit.
Remember, if your child has a life-threatening illness or injury, always call 9-1-1. But not every situation is clear-cut. If your child breaks a bone, has a high fever or an asthma attack, what should you do? This chart can help you determine where to take your child for immediate treatment.
Whether you take your child to Urgent Care or the ER, it’s helpful to look for a health care system that is focused on pediatrics and is staffed by board-certified pediatricians and pediatric nurse practitioners. These facilities are equipped with people and equipment that can hopefully help make a bad situation better for your child.
Download a helpful reference here.
When you find your family in need of emergency care, you can find the nearest Children’s Mercy emergency room here. Is Urgent Care a better fit? Save time with Save My Spot and skip the wait at one of Children’s Mercy’s three area pediatric only urgent care centers.
Dr. Johnson is a pediatrician at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. She describes her clinical work as “pediatric urgentology”, having spent her career in pediatric urgent care and emergency department settings since finishing her residency in Internal Medicine & Pediatrics at KU in Kansas City in 2003. In 2016, she became the Director of the new Division of Urgent Care for Children’s Mercy where she oversees a network of pediatric urgent care sites in the KC metro area. Dr. Johnson is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics for the UMKC School of Medicine.
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