What Should I Do in an Emergency Eye Care Scenario?

An eye emergency is a frightening experience. Whether it’s caused by trauma, a pre-existing eye condition, or something unexpected occurs with no warning, one aim remains constant—get the injured person to definitive care as quickly as possible. 

However, in some cases, there are certain actions you can take to lessen the risk of eyesight and/or physical damage.

Everything You Need to Know about Emergency Eye Care

• What would warrant an emergency?
• How to access emergency eye care
• Urgent vs. emergency eye care

What would warrant an emergency?

Most people think of trauma when it comes to eye emergencies. This does account for a large percentage, but various medical scenarios also warrant emergency care.

Whatever the reason, the following signs and symptoms all need immediate expert intervention.

• Bleeding or excessive discharge from the eye.
• Sudden onset of severe eye pain.
• Sudden onset of double vision
• The appearance of a black “curtain” from the top or outside corner of the eye.
• Sudden full or partial loss of vision—either in both or one eye.
• Unequal pupils.
• Sudden onset of burning or stinging eyes.
• Excessive redness/bloodshot eye or eyes.
• Severe sensitivity to light.

Such eye emergency symptoms don’t always happen in isolation. Two or three can occur simultaneously and a headache is also a common co-symptom.

In an emergency eye care scenario, you should do the following:

• Penetrating eye trauma or serious blunt eye trauma (either to the eye or surrounding tissues): Place a clean dressing over the injured eye. Then cover both eyes. Do not press, try to clean, or remove any object in the eye. Do not try to remove contact lenses. Seek immediate medical attention.
• Chemical eye injury: Gently flush the eye with tepid water for 10-15 minutes. You can use tap water, bottled water, or saline solution. If the chemical has also come into contact with other areas of the body, then remove clothes and, if safe to do so, have them take a shower. Seek immediate medical attention.
• Non-traumatic loss of vision or changes in vision: Seek immediate medical attention.
• Vision changes in conjunction with a sudden “thunder-clap” headache (or such a headache in isolation): Seek immediate medical attention.

How to access emergency eye care

Emergency eye care can be accessed by:

• Visiting a nearby eye clinic/center/hospital that offers 24/7 emergency care.
• Visiting the nearest ED.
• Calling 911.

Urgent vs. emergency eye care

It can be a challenge to know the difference between an urgent and emergency situation. 

There are many cases where at-home/on-site first aid can be performed and professional assistance sought in slower time. 

Examples of this include:

• A small, visible foreign object in the eye: This could be a bit of grit, eyelash, sand, etc. In most cases, plenty of blinking and natural eye tearing will eventually flush the body away. Have someone gently examine the eye. If the object can be visualized, then it might be possible to remove it with a water flush or by carefully touching a cotton swab to the object.
• Minor blunt trauma: That doesn’t cause bleeding or other symptoms (vision changes, severe headache, excessive swelling, etc.). In such a case, you could call your eye doctor to see if they advise a visit.

Underestimating potential eye damage could be vision-threatening. If you have any concern about your own or another person’s eye injury, then always err on the side of caution. Seeking emergency care when it’s not warranted will, at the very worst, waste some time. But NOT seeking emergency care when it’s needed could have serious repercussions.

If in any doubt, always consider the situation to be an emergency.

From Routine Eye Exams to Emergency Eye Care: You Need the West Boca Eye Center

The WBEC is a one-stop-shop for everything and anything that’s eye-related. Whether it’s for traumatic emergency eye care, cutting-edge cataract surgery, laser vision correction, routine eye exams, the latest glaucoma treatment, or anything in between, you can be sure of world-class care and treatment.

Discover more at https://www.westbocaeyecenter.com/