What's up Doc: What if I need emergency care?

  • Published
  • By Capt. (Dr.) Derrick Storey
  • 47th Medical Group
LAUGHLIN AFB, Texas --  

I am a patient seen at Laughlin AFB. What do I do if I have an emergency?

If you have an urgent problem, you may question if it is a true emergency. True emergencies, such as sudden shortness of breath or chest pain (thinking it may be a heart attack) or any injuries more than minor sprains or strains, need to be treated at emergency room nearest to you.
The Laughlin AFB Medical Treatment Facility (MTF) is not an emergency facility, not having the resources to fully evaluate and treat true emergencies. For these emergencies, prior authorization for treatment from the on-call PCM is not required. Just call 911 or go directly to the local ER.
If concerned about Tricare coverage, you can ask the ER if they are treating you as an emergency visit or in their "Fast Track," for which you should contact the PCM on-call for authorization after you are seen. Also, if you receive a billing from the ER, you may not have to pay it. Bring it to your local Tricare Service Center for resolution or retro-authorization.

***** Remember, if you really think it's an emergency, treat it as one! *****

If it is urgent but not an emergency, then you can get seen at our local MTF. For aircrew, you can be seen during sick call hours in the flight medicine clinic. Outside of these, there are a couple of 'acute' appointments scheduled for aircrew or their families so you can call same day and get seen for urgent problems.
For those seen by the family practice clinic, there are no sick call hours, but there are similar 'acute' slots you can call to schedule on the same day. If there are no slots left, just call the Family Medicine clinic to speak to a nurse to see if anything can be done for you until you can be seen or if you should report to the local ER.
After clinic closing, or on the weekend, you should call the on-call PCM if you have an urgent problem that is not an emergency to get approval prior to being seen at an urgent-care clinic either in Del Rio or wherever you may travel. Aircrew should call the command post at 830-298-5167 to get the flight doc on-call; if you see a family practice doc, then call 830-703-6199 to get the PCM on-call.