Symptom Action Guide

This page is not a diagnosis table or medical advice. It only helps families decide the next action: emergency or urgent care, contact a clinician soon, or record and watch with clear upgrade conditions.

If warning signs are already present, do not read the full page first. Use local emergency services, urgent care, crisis services, or an emergency department.

30-Second Sorting

The purpose of this guide is not “what disease is this?” It is “what should we do next?”

What you see now	First action
Chest pain or pressure, possible stroke symptoms, severe breathing difficulty, major mental-status change, uncontrolled bleeding, severe allergic reaction, poisoning or serious injury, self-harm risk, or pregnancy/postpartum warning signs	Treat as red. Seek emergency or urgent professional help.
No obvious red flag, but symptoms persist, recur, worsen, appear for the first time, or happen in a higher-risk person	Treat as yellow. Contact a clinician, clinic, nurse line, urgent-care system, or local triage service soon.
Symptoms are mild, short-lived, improving, with no warning signs and no higher-risk context	Treat as green. Record, watch, provide basic supportive care, and set upgrade conditions.

Higher-risk people include infants, pregnancy/postpartum, older adults, people with serious chronic disease, immune suppression, recent surgery, anticoagulant use, or a clinician’s previous warning to seek care under certain conditions.

If you cannot tell whether waiting is safe, do not label it green.

The Three Action Levels

Red

Emergency or urgent care

What it means: the situation may be life-threatening, rapidly worsening, or unsafe to wait on.

Family action: contact local emergency services, urgent care, crisis services, or an emergency department.

Do not: wait for a group-chat opinion, search for a diagnosis first, or ask a severely unwell person to drive themselves.

Yellow

Contact a clinician soon

What it means: it may not be an immediate emergency, but it needs professional judgment.

Family action: prepare a symptom timeline, medication list, relevant records, and the 1-3 questions you need answered.

Do not: explain it away only because the person can still “tolerate it.”

Green

Record and watch

What it means: mild, short, improving, no warning signs, and no higher-risk context.

Family action: rest, reduce triggers, record what happened, and decide what would make you upgrade.

Do not: treat “watching” as “ignore it,” or stack over-the-counter medicines, supplements, herbs, or home remedies without checking safety.

Ask Six Things Before Guessing

When someone says “I don’t feel well,” families often miss facts, not disease names.

Ask:

Question	Example wording	What to record
When did it start?	“About what time? Suddenly or gradually?”	first onset, sudden vs gradual, first time vs recurring
Where is it?	“One spot, a wider area, or spreading somewhere else?”	location, radiation, movement
What does it feel like?	“Pressure, tightness, stabbing, burning, cramping, numbness, dizziness?”	type of discomfort
How long and how often?	“Constant or coming in waves? Better or worse than before?”	duration, frequency, progression
What changes it?	“Activity, rest, posture, food, bathroom, medication?”	triggers, relief, what has been tried
What else is happening?	“Shortness of breath, sweating, fever, confusion, bleeding, weakness?”	associated symptoms, especially red flags

These questions should not delay emergency care. They help when it is safe to gather information.

Upgrade Conditions For Green Situations

If you decide to watch and record, set upgrade conditions first.

If this happens while watching	Upgrade to
New chest pain, possible stroke signs, severe breathing difficulty, confusion, uncontrolled bleeding, severe allergic reaction, self-harm risk, or other red flags	Red
Symptoms worsen, recur, or become clearly different from usual	Yellow
The symptom affects drinking, eating, sleeping, walking, caregiving, work, school, or basic activity	Yellow
The person is higher-risk, such as an older adult, infant, pregnant/postpartum person, immunocompromised person, recent surgery patient, or serious chronic-disease patient	Yellow sooner
A family member strongly feels “something is wrong” but cannot explain why	Contact a clinician or urgent-care triage
A clinician has already given return precautions and they are triggered	Follow the clinician’s instructions

Common Situations

This quick table is intentionally incomplete. It is meant to reduce hesitation, not replace clinical triage.

Situation	Red: seek urgent help now	Yellow: contact a clinician soon	Green: record and watch only if low risk
Chest pain, pressure, palpitations, shortness of breath	chest pressure/tightness, spreading pain, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, dizziness, fainting, abnormal breathing	recurring chest discomfort, palpitations, shortness of breath with activity, new or different symptoms	brief, mild, clearly improving, no shortness of breath, fainting, sweating, or spreading pain
Possible stroke or neurologic symptoms	sudden face droop, one-sided weakness/numbness, speech trouble, confusion, vision change, severe dizziness, walking trouble, sudden severe headache	new but less typical numbness, weakness, imbalance, memory change, or repeated falls	brief mild symptoms with clear trigger, but record and upgrade if repeated
Fever or infection	confusion, rapid breathing, cold/clammy skin, extreme weakness, severe pain, very low urine, rapidly worsening state	fever lasting or recurring, worsening cough, urinary pain, rash, wound infection, high-risk person	mild, improving, able to drink, normal mental state
Headache or dizziness	sudden worst headache, headache with neurologic signs, fever/stiff neck, head injury, confusion, seizure, fainting	new, persistent, recurring, different from usual, or affecting walking/vision/hearing	known mild pattern, improving with rest, no red signs
Abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea	severe or worsening abdominal pain, vomiting blood, black/bloody stool, fainting, severe dehydration, cannot keep fluids down	symptoms lasting or worsening, fever, low urine, older adult/child/pregnancy/chronic disease	mild, short, improving, able to drink
Fall, injury, sudden severe pain	head/neck/spine injury, suspected fracture, loss of consciousness, seizure, unable to walk, older adult with changed behavior	older adult fall, persistent pain, swelling, limited movement, anticoagulant use	minor bump, mild pain, normal movement, no worsening
Mental health crisis	thoughts, plans, or actions involving self-harm, suicide, or harm to others; unsafe impulses	anxiety, depression, insomnia, panic, or mood problems affecting function or safety concerns	temporary distress with no safety risk and support available

After Sorting

If red:

• seek emergency or urgent professional help;
• note the earliest symptom time, especially for possible stroke;
• bring or send the person’s basic health card, medication list, allergies, and emergency contact;
• do not leave the person alone if safety is uncertain.

If yellow:

• use the Doctor Visit Checklist;
• prepare the symptom timeline and the 1-3 questions you need answered;
• ask what to watch for, when to return, and what should trigger urgent care.

If green:

• create or update a Family Health Card;
• write down what happened and what would trigger an upgrade;
• do not use supplements, herbs, or multiple over-the-counter medicines as a substitute for professional judgment.

Sources

As of 2026-06-05, this preview page follows the source approach used in the Chinese edition and draws on public sources such as:

• MedlinePlus: Recognizing medical emergencies
• MedlinePlus: Chest pain
• MedlinePlus: Headaches - danger signs
• MedlinePlus: Abdominal pain
• CDC: About Sepsis
• American Heart Association: Heart Attack, Stroke and Cardiac Arrest Symptoms
• CDC HEAR HER Campaign: Urgent Maternal Warning Signs and Symptoms

Last Reminder

The goal is not to avoid care. The goal is to reduce hesitation when care is needed, and reduce panic when careful recording is enough for the moment.