Need for urgent medical care in a Jerusalem neighborhood: a population-based study.

We conducted a population-based survey of an urban community in Jerusalem to estimate the incidence of urgent and emergency medical events and to characterize the response of the populace to various medical episodes. We found deficiencies in the ability of the population to identify an urgent event, resulting in long delays in seeking professional care, as well as inappropriate choice of source of care, in a substantial proportion of subjects. These deficiencies can and should be corrected by inexpensive educational programs.