If your child suffers an injury or starts feeling sick, you will immediately begin assessing the severity. Determining whether your child needs urgent medical attention represents a tough decision. When just not sure, you should err on the side of caution. When your pediatrician is unavailable, an urgent care facility will often provide you with the best possible outcome.
Each situation is unique, so you should be aware of the signs when deciding whether to bring your child to urgent care.
What Is Urgent Care?
If your child’s medical condition isn’t life-threatening but needs more than just basic first aid or over-the-counter medication, urgent care is a good option. These convenient medical facilities fill the gap between the emergency room and the pediatrician’s office.
Owned by a mother, AFC Urgent Care Lower Macungie understands that it seems like kids never get sick or suffer an injury when their pediatrician is open during regular business hours. We remain open seven days a week with extended hours for early morning and late evening visits.
Once in the door, you can expect a short wait time. Qualified medical professionals will see your child and will evaluate and treat them using a kid-friendly medical approach. We also have advanced X-ray facilities and an onsite lab to help us be efficient and effective.
When to Take Your Child to Urgent Care
Urgent health care situations are illnesses or injuries that need prompt medical attention but are not considered life-threatening. According to the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, “if your child is able to walk, talk, interact and play, chances are whatever she or he has is not an emergency.”
When an illness or injury comes on quickly, and your child shows signs of distress, urgent care staff can immediately respond and help provide a diagnosis. Some of the medical conditions that AFC Urgent Care Lower Macungie treat include:
- Mild breathing troubles
- Abdominal pain
- Fever
- Vomiting or diarrhea
- Flu, sore throats, headaches, and colds
- Bronchitis
- Ear and eye infections
- Urinary tract infections
According to a study in the journal Pediatrics, children seen at urgent care are most often diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection, fever, or an ear infection.
Kids are notorious for getting scrapes, cuts, and bruises at the most inconvenient times. AFC Urgent Care Lower Macungie can also treat minor injuries such as:
- Minor burns
- Insect or animal bites
- Bleeding, cuts, and lacerations
- Sprains and simple fractures
- Sports-related injuries
- Foreign body removal
- Possible concussion without loss of consciousness
If your child’s illness or injury turns out to be more serious, our staff will immediately refer you to an emergency room.
Urgent Care versus Emergency Room
More than half of all pediatric emergency room visits are for non-urgent conditions. Once there, you will often wait longer than at an urgent care facility and pay more. Since the ER caters to very sick people, you may be exposing yourself and your child to many contagious diseases. The ER is also often very chaotic and noisy, which could be traumatic for children.
Of course, at times, the emergency room is the best place for treatment. You will want to head to the ER if your child:
Of course, at times, the emergency room is the best place for treatment. You will want to head to the ER if your child:
- Is younger than one month old and has a fever of at least 100.4°F
- Has ingested a poisonous substance
- Has a severe, deep burn covering large parts of the body
- Is gasping for air
- Has a gaping, deep wound or cuts to the face
- Has hit their head and lost consciousness
- Has a seizure
- Has a significant bone break
Emergency rooms certainly offer comprehensive care, but few pediatric patients require the full scope of services. AFC Urgent Care will often be the best choice when your child needs to see a physician quickly.
Additional Pediatric Services
While AFC Urgent Care Lower Macungie can handle non-life-threatening pediatric injuries or illnesses, it may make sense to use urgent care for your child’s other medical needs. AFC Urgent Care offers flu shots and other vaccinations, sports and school physicals, and primary care services starting at infancy.
Pediatric Urgent Care in a Convenient Location
Whether your child needs immediate medical attention or is just due for their flu shot, choose AFC Urgent Care Lower Macungie for the care you need when you need it.
