How to Know When to Go to the ER

Many medical emergencies make themselves obvious — severe stomach and chest pain, uncontrollable bleeding, or a broken bone — but many others can leave you wondering, “Should I go to the ER?” When every minute matters, knowing when to seek emergency care before you need to can help you make confident decisions in the moment.

So how do you know when to go to the ER? Trust your instincts if you’re experiencing:

• Chest pain or pressure: Especially if it radiates to your arm, jaw, or back
• Difficulty breathing: Shortness of breath that’s severe or getting worse
• Severe abdominal pain: Particularly if it’s sudden or accompanied by fever
• Head injuries: Especially with confusion, vomiting, or loss of consciousness
• High fever: Particularly in infants, or when accompanied by stiff neck or severe headache
• Sudden, severe pain: Anywhere in your body that comes on without warning
• Signs of stroke: Face drooping, arm weakness, or speech difficulty

When you’re facing a medical emergency, you need care fast — without the long wait times of a traditional hospital ER. Complete Care’s freestanding emergency rooms are fully equipped to handle serious medical emergencies with emergency-trained physicians available 24/7. With multiple convenient ER locations and minimal wait times, we’re here to provide the same level of emergency care you’d receive at a hospital, just faster, and closer to home.

For life-threatening situations, please call 911.

How do you know if you should go to the ER?

Chest pain or pressure

Chest pain is one of those symptoms you should never ignore. While not every instance of chest discomfort is a heart attack, it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you feel pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain in your chest that lasts more than a few minutes — or goes away and comes back — don’t wait to see if it gets better. 

This is especially true if the pain spreads to your shoulders, arms, back, neck, jaw, or stomach, or if you’re also experiencing shortness of breath, nausea, lightheadedness, or cold sweats. A trip to the emergency room is always the right choice when it comes to chest pain, even if it turns out to be something less serious.

Difficulty breathing

Trouble catching your breath can happen for many reasons, from asthma attacks to allergic reactions to heart problems. While cold and flu symptoms can sometimes make breathing feel harder, severe difficulty breathing is different — you’ll know it when you feel it. 

If you’re gasping for air, can’t speak in full sentences, feel like you’re suffocating, or notice your lips or fingernails turning blue, seek emergency care immediately. This is especially urgent for anyone with known respiratory conditions like COPD or asthma, as these episodes can escalate quickly.

Severe abdominal pain

Stomach pain is incredibly common, but severe abdominal pain — especially when it comes on suddenly — deserves emergency attention. We’re not talking about indigestion or general discomfort here. Sharp, stabbing pain, particularly in the lower right abdomen, could indicate appendicitis. 

Severe pain with fever, vomiting, or inability to have a bowel movement might signal a bowel obstruction. Abdominal issues are actually among the most common ER visits, and for good reason — conditions like appendicitis, gallbladder attacks, and intestinal blockages require immediate medical intervention to prevent serious complications.

Head injuries

Head injuries can be deceptively dangerous because symptoms don’t always appear right away. Any significant blow to the head warrants evaluation, especially if you experience loss of consciousness (even briefly), persistent headache that gets worse, repeated vomiting, confusion, slurred speech, difficulty walking, or clear fluid draining from the nose or ears. 

Even if someone seems fine immediately after hitting their head, watch for changes in behavior, difficulty staying awake, unequal pupil sizes, or seizures. Concussions and more serious brain injuries need professional assessment, as internal bleeding or swelling can develop hours after the initial injury.

High fever

Fevers are your body’s way of fighting infection, but extremely high temperatures or fevers with concerning symptoms need emergency attention. 

• For adults, a fever over 103°F that doesn’t respond to medication is cause for concern, especially with severe headache, stiff neck, rash, difficulty breathing, or confusion. 
• For infants under 3 months, any fever of 100.4°F or higher is an emergency. 

Many people wonder about the urgent care and ER difference when they have a fever — urgent care is great for mild to moderate fevers with cold-like symptoms, but high fevers with severe symptoms, altered mental status, or in very young infants always require emergency room evaluation. A freestanding emergency room like Complete Care can easily accommodate either.

Any sudden and/or severe pain

Pain is your body’s alarm system, and sudden, severe pain anywhere in your body shouldn’t be ignored. Whether it’s an excruciating headache that feels like “the worst of your life,” intense back pain that radiates down your legs, or sharp pain in your side that takes your breath away, these are signals that something serious might be happening. 

Pain that comes with fever, vomiting, numbness, weakness, or changes in vision needs immediate attention. A freestanding ER is equipped to quickly diagnose and treat conditions causing severe pain, from kidney stones to blood clots to spinal emergencies, with the full capabilities of a hospital emergency room.

Signs of stroke

Every second matters when it comes to stroke, which is why recognizing the signs can literally save a life. Remember F.A.S.T.: 

• Face drooping (one side of the face droops or feels numb)
• Arm weakness (one arm drifts downward when both are raised)
• Speech difficulty (slurred speech or trouble speaking)
• Time to call for emergency care immediately

Other stroke symptoms include sudden confusion, trouble seeing in one or both eyes, difficulty walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, and severe headache with no known cause. Don’t drive yourself — call 911 immediately, as stroke treatments are most effective when given within the first few hours of symptom onset.

Please note that Complete Care does not carry the medication (TPA) used in stroke treatment. We can diagnose patients who have had a stroke and send them on to a stroke center hospital, but do not encourage choosing a free-standing emergency room over a hospital in stroke emergencies. If you or a loved one is experiencing any of the above symptoms, call 911 or head to a hospital-based emergency room immediately.

Should you go to the ER or urgent care?

It’s one of the most common questions people face when something’s wrong: “ER or urgent care?” While urgent care centers are great for non-life-threatening issues like minor cuts, sprains, mild infections, or minor burns, they have limitations in what they can diagnose and treat. They typically can’t handle serious conditions, don’t have advanced imaging capabilities, and close at night — right when many health emergencies happen.

Here’s the good news: Complete Care freestanding emergency rooms give you the best of both worlds. We’re fully equipped emergency rooms with emergency-trained physicians, CT scanners, X-rays, ultrasounds, and full laboratory services available 24/7 — the same level of care as a hospital ER. But unlike traditional hospital emergency rooms, we offer shorter wait times and a more comfortable, less overwhelming environment.

If you’re unsure whether your situation is urgent care-level or emergency-level, err on the side of caution and come see us. We’d rather you come in and find out everything’s okay than have you wait at home hoping a serious condition will improve on its own. Our team is here to evaluate, diagnose, and treat whatever brings you through our doors, without judgment and without the long waits. When it comes to your health, it’s always better to be safe.

When waiting isn’t an option, Complete Care is your answer.

Knowing when to go to the ER can feel overwhelming, but here’s the bottom line: if you’re worried enough to wonder whether you should go, that’s usually your answer. Trust your instincts when it comes to your health. Whether you’re experiencing chest pain, severe abdominal discomfort, high fever, difficulty breathing, or any symptom that just doesn’t feel right, Complete Care is here for you.

With convenient locations throughout Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas/Fort Worth, East Texas, Lubbock, San Antonio, and Colorado Springs, there’s a Complete Care freestanding emergency room close to you. We’re open 24/7 with physicians, advanced diagnostic equipment, and a team that treats you like family — not just another patient. Walk in anytime, and we’ll take excellent care of you from the moment you arrive until the moment you leave feeling better.

Your health is too important to second-guess. When something’s wrong, we’re here to help you figure it out.