Download When to Go to the Emergency Room

When to Go to the Emergency Room:
Symptoms You Should Not Ignore
Laura L. Dollison, DO, FACEP, medical director, Lakewood Hospital ER
What is an emergency?
•Something that requires immediate care
•Serious illness or injury or serious symptoms
Individuals on blood thinners should go
to the ER if they fall or hit their heads.
Uncontrolled bleeding
What is a serious symptom?
•Injury, nasal, mouth, vaginal, penile, rectal
Chest Pain
Severe pain due to injury
Four systems can cause chest pain:
•Heart, lungs, stomach and muscle/ribs
Heart associated symptoms
•Shortness of breath, nausea and sweating, chest pain, jaw, back, neck pain
Sometimes women and people with diabetes
have different symptoms
•Tremendous fatigue, “heartburn”, anxiety
•Back pain: radiation down the leg, loss of bowel or bladder control
•Deformity or lack of color of the arm or leg
•Uncontrolled bleeding
Weakness/Numbness
•TIA (transient ischemic attack) mini or warning stroke
•CVA (cerebrovascular accident) – major stroke
– Symptoms: arm drift, facial droop, garbled speech, vision changes, dizziness
Two types of stroke: bleeding and blood clots
•Bleeding – usually have severe headache
•Blood clots – usually don’t have headaches, but do have numbness and weakness
Lakewood Hospital
14519 Detroit Avenue
Lakewood, OH 44107
Headache: migraine, classic or other
•New onset-never had this pain before
•Different or most severe
•Sudden onset: vomiting/weakness
Coughing/Vomiting Blood
•Coughing up blood
•Vomiting blood
– Esophagus, stomach, intestines
Continued on back
216.521.4200
lakewoodhospital.org/ER
Abdominal pain associated with
Persistent Fever
•Nausea/vomiting/diarrhea
•Fever
•Through to back and severe
•Unrelieved 30–60 minutes after taking fever reducing medication
•Recent surgery
•Sudden/severe cough
•Nausea/vomiting
•Wounds
•Burning during urination
Fainting
•Can be a sign of malnutrition, dehydration, medications, irregular heartbeat or other
•All elderly who faint should be seen
Shortness of Breath
Sudden onset, associated pain, history,
asthma or emphysema
•Recent surgery-possible blood clot in lungs
•Heart history
•Angina/Heart attack
Persistent Vomiting/Diarrhea
•Dehydration: increased thirst, decreased urination, lightheaded with standing
Seizures
•New onset: general shaking, unresponsiveness
•Known seizures: continuous, or repetitive or unusual
•Swallowing one’s tongue is a myth
FAST
The National Stroke Association uses the following
information to get people to act faster in recognizing
symptoms and getting help. It is recommended to
think “FAST”:
F – FACE: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of
the face droop?
A – ARM: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does
one arm drift downward?
S – SPEECH: Ask the person to speak a simple
phrase. Does the speech sound slurred or strange?
T – TIME: If you observe any of these signs, then call
911 or take the patient to a hospital with a Primary
Stroke Center, such as Lakewood Hospital.