Urgent Versus Emergent Care with Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital
It’s late at night and your newborn has a high fever. Do you take your child to urgent care or the emergency room?
Caretakers face this struggle along with many others, when they’re trying to decide the seriousness of an injury or illness and where they should go.
Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital is here to provide state-of-the-art care for your child, whether that’s at one of their five area locations for Urgent Care, or at our Emergency Room located on the hospital’s main campus.
Some situations or illnesses can be hard to identify as low or high risk, including fevers, coughing and dehydration.
- If your child has a fever, you may need to see a doctor if:
- Your child is an infant.
- The fever has lasted longer than a few days.
- The fever doesn’t come down with fever reducers.
- If your child has a cough, you may need to see a doctor if:
- It persists for a few weeks.
- They have difficulty breathing or chest pain.
- Your child is coughing up blood.
- If you sense that your child might be dehydrated, you may need to see a doctor if:
- Your child is urinating only one to two times a day.
- They’re experiencing excessive sleepiness.
- Your child’s skin is wrinkled.
Here are a few situations that can help you decide if your child’s condition is urgent or emergent:
| Conditions* |
Urgent Care |
Emergency Department |
| Allergies |
✘ |
|
| Allergic reactions (no breathing problems) |
✘ |
|
| Asthma attack (mild wheezing) |
✘ |
|
| Asthma attack (trouble breathing after treatment) |
|
✘ |
| Bite |
✘ |
|
| Broken Bone (bone not coming out of the skin) |
✘ |
|
| Broken Bone (bone coming out of skin) |
|
✘ |
| Bronchitis |
✘ |
|
| Burn (minor) |
✘ |
|
| Burn (serious, including burn to eye, electrical or acid burns, infection or blister) |
|
✘ |
| Cold |
✘ |
|
| Cough |
✘ |
|
| Cut (minor, but need stitches) |
✘ |
|
| Cut (bleeding will not stop) |
|
✘ |
| Dehydration |
|
✘ |
| Diarrhea |
✘ |
|
| Earache |
✘ |
|
| Ear infection |
✘ |
|
| Fainting |
|
✘ |
| Fever (child is older than 2 months) |
✘ |
|
| Fever (child is younger than 2 months) |
|
✘ |
| Flu |
✘ |
|
| Head injury (no loss of consciousness) |
✘ |
|
| Head injury (loss of consciousness) |
|
✘ |
| Laryngitis |
✘ |
|
| Migraine |
✘ |
|
| Pink eye |
✘ |
|
| Pneumonia (no breathing problems |
✘ |
|
| Pneumonia (trouble breathing) |
|
✘ |
| Poisoning |
|
✘ |
| Seizure |
|
✘ |
| Shock |
|
✘ |
| Sinus infection |
✘ |
|
| Sore throat |
✘ |
|
| Sprain |
✘ |
|
| Sting |
✘ |
|
| Stitches |
✘ |
|
| Stomachache (Mild) |
✘ |
|
| Stomachache (Severe) |
|
✘ |
| Strain |
✘ |
|
| Swimmer’s ear |
✘ |
|
| Uncomfortable or Painful Rash |
✘ |
|
| Urinary tract infection |
✘ |
|
| Vomiting |
✘ |
|
*This list does not include all conditions
Unless your child needs immediate medical attention, Children’s Hospital recommends contacting your child’s pediatrician first. A 24-hour line is always available to patients, so caretakers don’t have to make these decisions alone. The medical professional on call will be able to give you advice on what you should do and the next best steps in your child’s care.
If your child does need urgent care, Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital Urgent Care supports families and their physicians by delivering immediate medical care for children—newborns to 21 years of age—when their doctor’s office is closed. They also provide follow-up care by working with your child’s pediatrician.
Because they understand that illnesses and injuries are rarely convenient, urgent care locations are open nights and weekends and are located in Knoxville, Powell, Alcoa, Sevierville and Oak Ridge.
Let Children’s Hospital be your partner in your child’s health care. For more helpful tips, visit www.childrenshospitalurgentcare.com.
