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Emergency Services and Urgent Care
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- Urgent Care

Emergency Services & Urgent Care

If you're sick, you want to get help right away. But with today's rising co-pays and other out-of-pocket medical expenses, choosing the right level of care can make a big difference in cost-effectively using your health care benefits.

So where should you go? Call 9-1-1 or have someone take you to a hospital emergency room if you're experiencing a life-threatening condition, such as a heart attack, severely broken bones or a major illness.

However, if you are suffering from a routine problem or have a relatively minor illness or injury, going to an urgent care center is the right choice. Urgent care centers provide a good medical and financial alternative when you can't see your regular doctor, and the illness or injury is relatively minor, such as cuts, sprains, fever or animal bites.

No matter your medical emergency, ProHealth Care has the care you need, when you need it.

Links to Survival: EMS, Hospital Work Together

On Columbus Day 2004, 41-year-old Troy Knickelbine of Big Bend and his brother had poured the concrete garage floor for the new home they were building. That's when, Troy said, a wave of nausea caught him off-guard. His chest started burning and he felt so cold that he got into his truck and turned the heat on high. Cold sweats came next.

Suspecting a heart attack in progress, Troy used his cell phone to call 911. The sirens from the Big Bend/Vernon rescue squad were audible almost immediately as they rushed to the call from a nearby grade school event. Agreeing that Troy's symptoms were a probable heart attack, the EMS team quickly attached leads to his chest and begin transmitting his EKG to emergency physician Mark Schultz, MD, in Waukesha Memorial Hospital's Emergency Department. Confirming the diagnosis, Dr. Schultz immediately alerted cardiologist Richard Staudacher, MD, and the cath lab team to be ready for Troy's arrival.

Troy's ambulance arrived at 10:51 a.m. and Dr. Schultz met the squad as they rolled in. He quickly escorted Troy straight to the cardiac catheterization suite, where his physical exam was completed and he was "prepped" for angioplasty. By 11:32, just 41 minutes after arrival, Dr. Staudacher inflated the first angioplasty balloon in Troy's blocked arteries, restoring blood flow to the heart and stopping the heart muscle damage in its tracks. Two stents were inserted, and, within an hour of arrival, Troy was in a hospital room recovering from the event.

"Two days later I was home with no heart damage at all, thanks to the quick reactions of the paramedic crew and the Waukesha Memorial Hospital staff," said Troy.

Read more about our Partnership with Patients