ER, urgent care, or 911?
Call 911 now
- Chest pain or pressure, or pain spreading to the arm, jaw or back
- Trouble breathing or choking
- Stroke signs: face drooping, arm or leg weakness, trouble speaking
- Fainting, seizure, or a person who will not wake up
- Severe bleeding, a serious injury, or a severe allergic reaction
- Sudden vision loss, or a chemical splashed in the eye
Thinking about suicide: call or text 988.
Go to an emergency room
- Severe pain, or belly pain that will not ease
- High fever with a stiff neck, confusion or a rash that does not fade
- A broken bone that looks out of place, or a deep cut that will not stop bleeding
- Head injury with vomiting, confusion or drowsiness
- Bleeding or severe pain during pregnancy
- Any head injury in someone taking a blood thinner
- Fever in a baby younger than 3 months
- Sudden, severe pain or swelling in a testicle
Urgent care is usually fine for
- Sore throat, ear pain, cough, cold or flu symptoms
- Minor cuts, sprains and strains
- Painful urination or a simple rash
- Mild fever in an otherwise healthy adult
Not sure? Call your doctor or a nurse line. If it feels like an emergency, treat it as one.
More free tools from the same ER doctor
- Find a micro hospital by ZIP: a small hospital with a 24/7 ER and beds
- Find a licensed freestanding ER in Texas, and what it may cost
- Free lock-screen medical ID: allergies and medicines a paramedic can read
- Ask AI about your symptoms safely, without sharing personal details
- Kept overnight but not admitted? What observation status means for your bill
About these numbers. Times are the typical (median) total time patients spent in each emergency department from arrival to leaving, for patients who went home, as reported to Medicare (CMS) for October 2024 to September 2025. They are not live wait times, and a real visit can be shorter or much longer. Hospitals without enough data are not shown. Locations are approximate (ZIP code center). Specialty hospitals (surgical, heart, orthopedic) often have small ERs with short times but may not treat every emergency. This site is general information, not medical advice, and does not replace a clinician. In an emergency, call 911.