An Emergency Room (ER) is a section of a hospital or other health care facility which provides rapid treatment for people who have sudden illness or trauma.

It is advisable to make pre-plans "just in case" you have to go to an emergency room. Part of planning is looking at your insurance to determine whether you have to get prior approval before going to an ER, deciding which ER to go to if you have a choice, as well as learning how to maximize your time while in an emergency room.

When in the ER, be sure to tell about your diagnosis and all medications, herbs, vitamins, supplements and over-the-counter drugs you are taking or recently took. Also, since decisions have to be made quickly, it is easy for a doctor to focus on your existing diagnosis instead of looking for a new cause of the symptoms that are the cause of the visit to the ER. (Yes, other stuff can happen.) Always ask: "With my symptoms, what else could it be?"

When you leave an emergency room to go home, be sure you understand:

• The diagnosis of the problem which caused you to have to go to the Emergency Room.
• The treatment you received.
• The instructions you receive, such as what drugs to take and when, how to reake care of your wound if any, and when to have a follow-up visit with a doctor.

There are alternatives to obtaining health care in an ER to consider. For example, urgent-care clinics are staffed by doctors, offer short wait times and charges which are a fraction of what a typical emergency department charges. Some even offer discounts and payment plans for people who are uninsured. Co-pays may even be less for people who have health insurance.

For more information about these subjects, see the documents in  "To Learn More."

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