[PilotAlan]

Background: I'm a retired paramedic, my wife is a ER director with 40 years in trauma centers. She now runs a standalone ER.

1 - All ERs are not equal, based on certifications they have and what services the hospital has. Some are trauma centers, some are stroke centers, some are cardiac centers, some have hyperbaric medicine, some are burn centers, etc.

2 - In a real emergency, call 911. The EMS crew knows which facilities specialize in what, and where the best place is to go for YOUR specific problem. They also know which hospital's MRI is down, or their cardiac cath lab is down, or they have no orthopedic coverage tonight, or they're on trauma bypass.

3 - Standalone ERs are great for many things, like isolated broken bone, stitches, fever/flu, general illness, chronic conditions, etc. They're great, and they usually have short wait times.
BUT ALSO, they are real ERs with ER doctors and ER nurses, and are fully equipped to handle anything that comes through the door. My wife's handles gunshot wounds, stabbings, cardiac arrests, strokes, etc.
In a life threatening emergency, I would go to the standalone ER across the street rather than wait to go to the hospital ER that's 10 minutes away.
A standalone ER can administer clot-buster drugs to stop a heart attack or a stroke, they can stabilize severe allergic reactions, airway or lung problems, or most other true emergencies and then transfer to the hospital for further care.