As someone who used to work in a very busy ER, ( seeing 100,000 people yearly) I can add a few thoughts... I worked as an ER nurse doing all functions including triage, running the code ... Here's what I suggest: don't go to the ER unless you are acutely ill--as in having fallen off a ladder and you broke a bone, or feel like an elephant is sitting on your chest because the pain is so bad, or you are vomiting and can't stop--stuff like this!! Too often when you call doctors /nurses with a problem, they offer to see you in their office or tell you to go to the ER... Trust me--they only say "or go to the ER" for their own malpractice--not because they are worried! …see more