Visitor essay: ERs will be outfitted for a watch emergency

by Geoff Bradford

A daily Well being & Wellness column providing views by one among our native Morgantown optometrists typically seems in The Dominion Publish on Sundays. Whereas the attention care messages given in these columns can typically be useful, the recommendation on looking for emergency eye care printed within the Oct. 22 version might create delays in receiving correct emergency care and produce hurt to the person.

True medical — and probably surgical — eye emergencies are greatest addressed in an emergency room that has skilled specialists, together with ophthalmologists, who’re accustomed to and skilled in addressing severe ocular issues.

The sudden onset of eye ache, redness or lack of imaginative and prescient, as addressed within the column, shouldn’t be ignored or delayed for a scheduled workplace go to. Such signs could also be brought on by very severe issues associated to trauma, corneal ulcers and infections, extreme glaucoma, problems of diabetes or severe abnormalities inside the attention that can not be absolutely recognized or handled in an workplace setting. Different medical issues elsewhere within the physique requiring a doctor’s care may additionally be contributing to the attention concern and in addition want consideration.

In an emergency, time is of the essence, and though nobody likes to go to one, the emergency room affords one of the best assets in such regarding occasions.

The ERs in Morgantown are effectively outfitted for eye emergencies and have ophthalmologists available 24/7. Regional emergency departments in our space even have direct phone entry to consultations with ophthalmologists who’re skilled in emergency eye care of all sorts, in addition to transportation and switch coordination assets to get sufferers to the care they urgently want ASAP.

Sure, because the column famous, common visits to a trusted neighborhood eye physician are prudent to handle major imaginative and prescient issues. However with eye emergencies, it’s essential to know that one of the best assets, entry to skilled personnel and greatest probabilities for a superb end result are most probably to be discovered beginning in our neighborhood emergency rooms.

Geoff Bradford has been an American Board of Ophthalmology-certified ophthalmologist in Morgantown in educational follow for over 25 years.