Urgent care and emergency department

If a person is in a life-threatening situation, act quickly and immediately call the emergency number 112 for help and instructions. If you have symptoms consistent with an emergency, come to the emergency department immediately or call 112.

Emergency situations may include:

• diminished consciousness, sudden confusion, or unconsciousness
• accidents
• acute stroke symptoms
• severe and increasing chest pain
• severe breathing difficulties
• heavy bleeding
• severe intolerable pain
• severe allergic reaction (cold sweat, difficulty breathing)
• sudden or intensifying suicidal thoughts
• sudden stroke symptoms, such as any or all of the following:
  • difficulty speaking (hard to find words or speech is mumbling)
  • as a sign of facial paralysis, one corner of the mouth is drooping or moving poorly
  • weakness symptoms in the arm or leg

Urgent care is the right place if you have an illness or injury that requires treatment before your own health care centre opens.

Situations that require urgent care may include:

• Major injuries and fractures
• contusions and bleeding wounds
• significant chest pain
• eye injuries
• severe shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• bleeding, such as vomiting blood or nasal bleeding
• acute severe or worsening stomach pain
• acute severe or worsening headache
• sudden onset of allergic reaction: medication poisoning or other poisoning, also call the 24-hour HUS Poison Information Centre
• a high temperature (above 38 °C) in a child under three months of age
• sudden or worsening symptoms of psychosis and mania

Before coming to the urgent care department, call the urgent care number 116117. Patients are always treated by in the order of urgency.

What to bring to urgent care

• information on regular medication and allergies
• asthma sprays, eye drops, insulin, etc.
• contact details of your family or other close persons

When you arrive at the urgent care department, register using the registration machine and wait for your turn in the waiting room. You will be invited on your turn to the nurse's assessment.

Urgent care and emergency department locations:

• Kuopio: Emergency department, Puijo Hospital, Main Hospital, Puijonlaaksontie 2, C-door, ground floor, Kuopio
• Iisalmi: Urgent care department, Kampus Pulssi Building, Riistakatu 23, Iisalmi
• Varkaus: Urgent care department, Aalto Health Care and Welfare Centre, Savontie 21, Varkaus

Inquiries and visits by relatives

Short visits to patients under monitoring will be possible, but family must otherwise wait in the lobby. They may inquire with the nurses about the progress of the treatment. We hope that the close relations of the patient will appoint a single person to contact the nursing staff and relay information about the patient's condition to other family members.

When the ailment is not immediately life-threatening, but requires urgent examination and treatment, go to your own health care clinic during its opening hours.

You can find the telephone numbers and locations of the clinics providing urgent care through the link below:

• Contact information for urgent care clinics

The dental emergency department provides treatment for urgent oral health issues, the treatment of which cannot wait until the next working day.

Such issues may include:

• obvious swelling, restricted opening of mouth, difficulty swallowing
• assault, dental accidents, or suspected fracture of the jawbone
• severe dental pain (persistent, prevents sleep, painkillers do not help)
• severe pain when biting which prevents chewing either due to a loose tooth or severe pain.

Primarily contact the dental services in your home municipality during opening hours 8 am to 4 pm. At other times, please contact the regional dental emergency services at their opening hours, and other times, the medical helpline at 116117.

Service hours and contact information

• Appointments for oral health care will be booked on weekdays 8 am to 4 pm.

Oral health care services and contact information

• Regional dental emergency services, tel. +358 17174020, open on weekends and on bank holidays from 8am to 9 am.
• Medical Helpline, tel. 116117, open on weekday evenings from 4 pm to 8 am and on weekends and public holidays

In case of non-urgent or prolonged ailments, you should first contact your own health care centre.

You can find the telephone numbers and locations of the health care centres through the link below:

• Contact information for appointments