Should I Go to the ER Quiz

How the Scales are Structured
Who Usually Takes This Test?
See How You Compare
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Example Questions From the Test
- I have no new rash, swelling, itching, or breathing change after a possible exposure.
- I have limited itching or a small localized rash, with no facial swelling or breathing problem.
- I have widespread hives or increasing facial swelling, but no tongue or throat swelling and no breathing difficulty.
- My tongue or throat is swelling, breathing or swallowing is difficult, my voice has changed, or I feel faint after an exposure.
- There is no suspected excess dose, dangerous combination, toxic exposure, or concerning impairment.
- I used the intended amount but have a mild, unexpected effect and remain fully alert with normal breathing.
- An extra dose, unsafe combination, or toxic exposure may have occurred, but there are currently no severe symptoms.
- There was an intentional or potentially large overdose, an unknown substance, dangerous fumes, or severe sleepiness, confusion, vomiting, seizure, collapse, or abnormal breathing.
- I have no unusual abdominal or pelvic pain.
- The discomfort is mild, brief, and not worsening, and I can drink fluids and move normally.
- The pain is persistent or worsening, or comes with repeated vomiting, marked tenderness, or inability to keep fluids down.
- The pain is sudden or unbearable, the abdomen is rigid or swollen, there is vomiting of blood or black stool, I am fainting, or pregnancy is possible with pain or bleeding.
Should I Go to the ER Quiz - Description and methodology of the test
People facing a new, worsening, or uncertain symptom can use the Should I Go to the ER Quiz to sort observable warning signs into an urgency-focused result. It is useful when deciding whether prompt clinical advice or emergency help deserves attention. Its urgent-care-versus-ER framing makes it a practical should i go to urgent care or er quiz, keeping the decision centered on immediate risk rather than a disease label.
What This Assessment Explores
Items cover breathing, chest symptoms, heartbeat, fainting, neurologic change, severe pain, infection, poisoning, injury, allergic reaction, and immediate safety. It can be answered for oneself or another person, and organizes urgency rather than naming a disease.
Hospital-care decisions use a should i go to the hospital quiz with three dimensions. Each captures a distinct warning-sign cluster reflected in the result:
- Breathing, Chest & Circulation (0-15) measures respiratory, chest, heartbeat, fainting, and circulation warnings: No indicators selected 0; Prompt assessment 1-2; Emergency action 3-15.
- Neurologic Warning Signs (0-15) measures awareness, speech, strength, sensation, vision, balance, seizures, and headache: No indicators selected 0; Prompt assessment 1-2; Emergency action 3-15.
- Severe Illness, Injury & Immediate Safety (0-15) measures illness, poisoning, bleeding, trauma, pain, allergic reactions, and self-harm danger: No indicators selected 0; Prompt assessment 1-2; Emergency action 3-15.
Methodology and Evidence Base
Each item offers four ordered choices, moving from no warning sign to mild, concerning, and explicit red-flag descriptions. Examples include gasping, sudden one-sided weakness, major bleeding, possible overdose, severe allergic reaction, collapse, or inability to stay safe. The format asks the respondent to match the closest current or recent situation.
Selections contribute to three totals, but the bands are unvalidated summaries rather than medical cutoffs; self-reported anxiety, context, recall, and self-awareness can affect results. Any concerning endorsed experience matters independently of the total; no indicators selected still cannot rule out an emergency, and a single red-flag response overrides the total. Do not drive if severely unwell.
Published evaluations by Cotte and Meer address symptom-based self-triage and safety, while Trivedi's work examines emergency self-triage. These studies provide conceptual context, not validation or provenance for this separate questionnaire.
When considering whether urgent care may be sufficient, this should i go to urgent care quiz is best interpreted by combining the selected response with onset, progression, severity, and immediate safety. A low total cannot erase a sudden or dangerous warning sign.
- Trivedi SV, Batta R, Henao-Romero N, Mondal P, Wilson T, Stempien J. A comparison of self-triage tools to nurse driven triage in the emergency department. PLoS One. 2024;19(8):e0297321. 10.1371/journal.pone.0297321
- Cotte F, Mueller T, Gilbert S, Blümke B, Multmeier J, Hirsch MC, Wicks P, Wolanski J, Tutschkow D, Schade Brittinger C, Timmermann L, Jerrentrup A. Safety of Triage Self-assessment Using a Symptom Assessment App for Walk-in Patients in the Emergency Care Setting: Observational Prospective Cross-sectional Study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2022;10(3):e32340. 10.2196/32340
- Meer A, Rahm P, Schwendinger M, Vock M, Grunder B, Demurtas J, Rutishauser J. A Symptom-Checker for Adult Patients Visiting an Interdisciplinary Emergency Care Center and the Safety of Patient Self-Triage: Real-Life Prospective Evaluation. J Med Internet Res. 2024;26:e58157. 10.2196/58157