If you are like most parents, a sick child can be upsetting and scary. Even worse is when you don’t know if you should take your child to the Emergency Room, an Urgent Care clinic such as Florida Hospital Centra Care, or wait until the next available appointment at your regular pediatrician office.

“We always caution parents to trust their instincts. When in doubt, call your pediatrician,” says Kris Gray, MD, family medicine physician at Florida Hospital.

Here, Dr. Gray provides tips on how to determine where you should take your ill child for treatment.

CALL 9-1-1 WHEN…

      • Significant difficulty breathing

      • Seizure

      • Unable to arouse

      • Life-threatening injury

GO TO THE NEAREST EMERGENCY ROOM WHEN…

      • Inability to drink fluids or urinate for more than six hours

      • Unusual behaviors such as inconsolable crying, difficulty waking the child up, inability to walk/talk normally

      • Injury with excessive bleeding or bleeding that is difficult to stop, inability to bear weight or walk, obvious deformity of arm or leg 

      • Significant abdominal pain

GO TO THE NEAREST URGENT CARE CLINIC WHEN…

      • Physician’s office closed or unable to get appointment

      • High fever (102°F or greater)

      • Vomiting and/or diarrhea more than 12-24 hours

      • Non-life-threatening injury—sprain, laceration (cuts), burn, large abrasion (scrapes)

GO TO PHYSICIAN’S OFFICE WHEN...

      • Persistent cough, ear pain, sore throat

      • Mild to moderate fever for more than 24 hours (100 F to 102 F)

      • Rash, allergies

      • DON’T FORGET WELL CHILD VISITS AND IMMUNIZATIONS!

Florida Hospital has more than 18 Centra Care locations across Central Florida and a pediatric-only Emergency Room at Florida Hospital Orlando. If you need a referral to a pediatrician, call the Florida Hospital Friends and Family Hotline at (407) 303-1700.