What should I do in an emergency?

If you think you are having a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room right away. AskMD is not designed to manage emergencies. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, any time.

AskMD watches for this too: if your description suggests a potential emergency, like chest pain, difficulty breathing, or signs of a stroke, it stops the routine conversation and advises you to seek emergency care immediately.

For urgent but non-emergency situations, AskMD can help you find same-day care options nearby, and for mental health topics like anxiety, depression, sleep, and stress, it can help you understand your options for finding support.

That escalation is engineered, not improvised: defined clinical safety protocols and escalation pathways govern every AskMD interaction, so when a situation calls for professional or emergency care, AskMD’s job is to get you there.