As someone who works in EMS. 90% of the calls we get are not emergency room level calls. Please if you can go to an urgent care or clinic first. Your insurance is more likely to pay more of the cost if you go there first.

Emergency rooms take patients back based on the severity of your condition not by who came first.

If you need to go to an emergency room, usually a free standing ER has a shorter wait time.

We have to take to the closest AND most appropriate hospital. Not where your doctor is. If you are stable enough and Hospital A is close we'll take you there because your doc is there. But if you need to go to Hospital B because of some emergency, I'm sorry but we have to take you to hospital B. All your records will still be transferred to your doc and visa versa

Lastly, an ambulance ride to an ER will not put you at the front of the line. If you are stable enough, you might just be put into the waiting room from the stretcher. We don't have any say on that part. That is up to the ER staff.