Urgent and emergency care services
Before you find yourself in a situation where you need medical treatment, help or advice urgently, it helps to be prepared and to know what is classed as an emergency, the types of services on offer and which one is best suited to your needs.
Deciding if you need an emergency service
It is often very obvious if someone is seriously ill and needs immediate emergency care.
To help you decide, an emergency, critical or life-threatening situation may involve:
- unconsciousness
- a suspected stroke
- heavy blood loss
- a deep wound such as a stab wound
- a suspected heart attack
- difficulty in breathing
- severe burns
- a severe allergic reaction
If you or someone else needs emergency treatment, dial 999 free from any public or private telephone and ask for the ambulance service.
Things to remember in an emergency
There are a few things that you should remember in any emergency to help you to deal with the situation quickly and efficiently.
They are:
- stay calm, shout for help
- you may need to get someone to telephone 999 - make sure they know where the ambulance has to come to and that they have some details about the person who is injured or ill
- don't put yourself in danger - if someone has been electrocuted, make sure you switch off the power supply before touching them
- do everything you can to help the person
- don't give the person anything to eat, drink or smoke
- don't stick anything in their mouth
- follow the instructions the ambulance service call handler may give you
The best way to help a person very often depends on what is wrong with them.
Sometimes, the quickest way to help is to take the person to the nearest Emergency Department (ED).
However, even if your hospital is fairly close, you should call an ambulance and not move the patient if you think they:
- may have hurt their back or neck
- have any other injury that may be made worse by moving them
- the person has severe chest pain or difficulty breathing
Emergency departments
You should only go to a hospital emergency department if you, a friend or relative has a medical emergency.
Emergency departments are also known as Accident and Emergency (A and E) or casualty departments.
Information on where to find emergency departments in Northern Ireland and the average waiting time to see the nurse or doctor who will treat you at those hospitals is available at:
You will be seen in the Emergency Department based on your medical condition which is assessed by a member of staff when you first arrive.
When it's not a life-threatening emergency
Minor Injury units or urgent care services offer medical help when it's not a life-threatening emergency and can help with many of the most common problems people go to Emergency Departments for.
These services can treat injuries that are not critical or life-threatening, such as:
- injuries to upper and lower limbs
- broken bones, sprains, bruises and wounds
- bites – human, animal and insect
- burns and scalds
- abscesses and wound infections
- minor head injuries
- broken noses and nosebleeds
- foreign bodies in the eyes and nose
Further information on where to find Minor Injuries units and Urgent Care centres and their contact details are available at the following links:
- Northern Trust - Minor Injuries Units
- South Eastern Trust – Minor Injuries Unit
- Southern Trust - Minor Injuries
- Western Trust – Urgent Care and Treatment Centre, Omagh Hospital
Each Emergency Department in the Belfast Trust has a minor injury stream which manages certain minor injuries from triage through the emergency nurse practitioners.
'Phone First' service
If you think you need urgent or emergency care but you are not sure where to go, use the Phone First service.
Phone First is a telephone service for people, who are feeling unwell and need urgent treatment which is not immediately life-threatening.
When you make a call, you will be medically assessed on the phone by a health professional and will be given advice and directed to the most suitable urgent or community service to meet your treatment or care needs.
This could include an appointment to go to:
- an Emergency Department
- an Urgent Care Centre
- a Minor Injuries Unit
- a GP
- a pharmacist
- another service
The service is available at all Health and Social Care Trusts:
Further information is available at:
Remember:
- you should not go to an Emergency Department as an alternative to your GP
- calling 999 for an ambulance does not get you to the top of an ED queue - patients are seen based on medical need, not who gets to the hospital first