Urgent care represents an option between visiting the emergency room or waiting to see your general practitioner for a scheduled appointment. If you need to see a doctor soon, going to an urgent care clinic may be the right choice. These four factors indicate whether you ought to see emergency treatment or simply go for urgent care.

Bleeding

Generally, folks who have uncontrolled bleeding should go to the emergency department of the nearest hospital as soon as possible. If the bleeding is controlled, though, you might go the urgent route instead. This is fine even if there's a bit of seeping.

One notable exception would be if you have potentially pregnancy-related bleeding. That is almost certainly an emergent care issue.

Mobility

If you are usually mobile but can't move much or at all right now, you should probably go to an emergency doctor. Folks who can move tolerably well are more likely to be urgent care patients. A notable exception is any mobility issue possibly related to the spine. Do not take chances with any spinal or neck injuries. Call an ambulance and have EMTs stabilize you for transport.

Consciousness

A person who is unconscious or slipping in and out of consciousness should seek emergency treatment. Someone who feels faint can go to urgent care, but they shouldn't drive. Ask a friend or family member to drive. If there are no other options, you may need to call an ambulance.

Illness

This can be a tough spot for deciding between urgent and emergent care. If you feel extremely ill, you should check some basic levels to decide whether to use an emergent or urgent option.

Taking your temperature, for example, will tell you whether you might have a severe fever. Any reading above 99.5 degrees F is a fever, but an adult probably doesn't need emergency treatment unless they have a fever over 103 degrees. In newborns, anything over 100.4 degrees deserves emergency care, as does anything over 102.2 for babies between three and 12 months of age. If your temperature is feverish but below those higher thresholds, you should still seek urgent care if it lasts longer than 48 hours.

Ideally, you should also have a pulse oximeter. A reading between 95 and 100 percent is normal for a healthy person. Someone with a reading between 90 and 95 percent should go to an urgent care clinic. If the level is below 90 percent, that's a sign of an emergency. 

For more information, contact a local urgent care clinic.