WHEN TO GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM (ER)

WHEN TO GO TO ER 

Wondering whether an illness or injury warrants a trip to the emergency room is a common quandary. With severe, life-threatening conditions, call 911. Here are some other symptoms experts say require an ER visit:

• Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
• Chest or upper abdominal pain or pressure lasting two minutes or more
• Severe persistent abdominal pain
• Loss of consciousness, or sudden dizziness and weakness
• Sudden changes in vision or difficulty speaking
• Confusion or changes in mental status
• Severe or persistent vomiting or diarrhea
• Severe sprain or suspected broken bone, usually involving more pain and swelling than a minor sprain, which doesn't merit emergency care.
• To avoid unnecessary tests and procedures once you get to the ER ask lots of questions:
• Is this the best test or treatment?
• What are its costs, benefits, and risks?
• Are there alternative tests that are cheaper or less risky?
• Why do I need this test now, and what would happen if I don't get it now?
Source: The American College of Emergency Physicians Foundation and other sources

What every patient should ask (and tell) the doctor

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  What every patient should ask (and tell) the doctor

Great useful Online Medical sites

 From sitejabber.com

webmd.com  This site helped me figure out how to relieve some really bad cold and flu symptoms. It is a good way to take care of yourself w/o having to speak to a real professional. Good site. RELIABLE.

mayoclinic.com  Point your browser here: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/symptom-checker/DS00671 - for "Symptom Checker" page. The Mayo Clinic has for a long time established itself as one of the most trusted names, and facilities, for medial care.

medgle.com  Symptom Search - Very easy to use and filters diagnoses based on age and gender. 

 

omnimedicalsearch.com

Very diverse medical Search Engine for none professionals and professionals. It has been useful for me. It comes time in life, we start searching for health and diseases information.

 

worldhealth.net

I subscribed to the email newsletter from this site and have read it almost every single time. I feel after reading for a few months I have a much better understanding of how to live a healthier life and would recommend this newsletter to anyone who...

 

drugs.com  The top source of prescription drug information, it features an unique and authoritative pill identification wizard which will help you identify anything you find accidentally dropped on the floor, or hidden in, say, your teenager's bedroom. That al...

 

cdc.gov    The CDC website is the main site I have always used as a physician to get the latest news on outbreaks of diseases. In particular with the spread of the H1N1 flu, this site has a wealth of information. They have a page dedicated to the H1N1 status h...

drugtopics.modernmedicine.com  One of my main resources to get the latest news on the pharmaceutical industry and drug related topics. They have the latest developments by both big pharma and biotech companies.

medlineplus.gov   Very diverse and well organized site on health related topics with links to libraries, medical database, articles in many languages.

 

erck.com  When I was in medical school, the Merck Manual was one of the books we often used to look up various diseases as they had a pocket sized version that fit in our coat pockets. Now, the entire home edition of the famed Merck Manual is available online...

nccam.nih.gov The National Center for complimentary and alternative medicine offers this FREE pdf on the real facts about herbs and supplements. I would recommend if anyone takes supplements that they download this pdf http://nccam.nih.gov/health/NIH_Herbs_at_...

obgyn.net  One of the best websites out there focusing on women's healthcare. The site has forums as well as articles written by physicians. They also have a comprehensive section of the site for physician and industry professionals, which is nice because it k...

 

revolutionhealth.com   The internet is a dangerous place when looking for health care you can trust - This site is about general healthcare, but it really does a great job of education people how to take care of their medical problems. It is more like integrative medicine...

 

searchmedica.com    Often times patients want to know where they can find a medical search engine rather than relying on google to find them medical information written by professionals. Searchmedica.com is a nice search engine and while it is designed for professional..

webmd.com   This site helped me figure out how to relieve some really bad cold and flu symptoms. It is a good way to take care of yourself w/o having to speak to a real professional. Good site. RELIABLE.

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