Accomplished physician Robert VandenBosche practices adult primary care and preventive medicine at Seton Medical Group in Maryland. A resident of Middletown, Robert VandenBosche has worked in a range of medical settings, including urgent care facilities and emergency departments.
When illness appears suddenly, many people are uncertain whether to visit an urgent care center or an emergency room. Generally, urgent care centers treat medical issues that are not life-threatening. This includes problems such as minor cuts, animal bites, mild asthma attacks, and earaches. Essentially, urgent care provides noncritical medical care to patients outside of their doctor’s normal operating hours.
Emergency rooms generally are reserved for real medical emergencies, including shortness of breath, chest pain, seizures, and sudden numbness. These symptoms suggest that patients may be suffering from a life-threatening condition that needs immediate care.
Unlike urgent care centers, which usually close at night, emergency rooms are open 24 hours a day. Urgent care centers and emergency rooms also differ in terms of their personnel and medical capabilities.
Emergency rooms can handle surgical procedures, X-rays, trauma, and almost any other medical situation. While urgent care centers are capable of handling a wide range of medical issues, they usually are not as well equipped as emergency rooms.
