Unfortunately the healthcare system has to go to these lengths because so many people lack common sense. Too many people treat Urgent Care and Emergency Care as their "clinic" instead of finding a primary care doctor and making an appointment. Too bad they can't cure stupid.

This is way better than the campaign our regional health authority put together. Stuff like that should be taught alongside high school health classes or with drivers licencing (or both). People mess up the system so much for everyone (and risk future health issues for themsevles) when they go to the wrong place.

If you have the plague, please call ahead.

My first ER rotation I pulled a chart that the complaint was "two years of chapped lips". Having said that, I tell my patients and sometimes parents, if you're scared, go to the ER.

In France, all doctors take a month long summer holiday, like teachers. If you're unwell, you have to either contact the fire department as they're (I think) also paramedics, or go to A&E. They don't get paid as much as doctors in the UK or the US but it's still one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

Urgent care is when you want to pay a medical bill and spend a bunch of time in a waiting room but not have anyone actually help you.

If you go to Urgent Care and need Emergency Room, they will call ambulance where you are triaged right away. If you had plague they would see that and isolate you.

I don't think they are really accurate, but I agree that some comparisons could help people, because lots of people when they feel ill think they are an emergency when they are not. I just always tell people who complain about waiting in the ER how triage works. Like be lucky that you had to wait long because mostly if you are helped directly it means you have something more serious. Multitrauma cardiac arrest etcetc

Me: doctor I'm dying doctor: wdym??? Me:im dying inside doctor: *calls therapist* are you suicidal? Me:yeah

And yet people still don't understand.

honestly so true tho

If only they knew that in a year's time, the third one would be neither funny nor true. In 2020 Flu = plague. Also don't go to either urgent care or ER if you have the flu/plague.

Part of the problem are "nurse lines". I took my son to the ER once, and I went to the ER once, both times because the nurse on the nurse line said to go, and in retrospect (not just based on the outcome), it was silly, and urgent care would have been better. And then, with urgent care, it takes two hours to scour the internet to find a place that your insurance will cover! Not great when you're fainting or having an asthma attack. Your insurance company should send you a list of 2-3 urgent care places near you with their hours when you sign up. It would save them money. (And don't say go to ER for asthma attack, because last time that happened, they wouldn't let me lay down and it took over 5 hours before they would see me. It was terrifying. I just needed one little puff of albuterol.)

These are perfect!!! Coming from an Urgent Care nurse. Truly, we had too many emergencies.

Wow dowvote central.