For genuine eye emergencies — call us

When to call the after-hours line

For any of the following, call us immediately — don't wait until morning:

• •Sudden vision loss in one or both eyes
• •Sudden onset of flashes of light or floaters (could indicate retinal detachment)
• •Severe eye pain that's not relieved with normal measures
• •Eye trauma — getting hit in the eye, chemical splash, foreign body lodged
• •Persistent halos around lights or eye redness with vision change
• •Sudden double vision
• •Recent eye surgery and something feels wrong
• •A contact lens that won't come out
• •Eye pain with nausea or vomiting (could indicate acute glaucoma)

If life-threatening: call 911 or go to an ER

PSEC's after-hours service is for eye-specific emergencies. If you have severe head trauma, loss of consciousness, signs of stroke (sudden one-sided weakness or facial droop), or any other life-threatening symptoms — call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Eye symptoms in those settings are often related to systemic issues that need ER-level care first.

Why we offer after-hours coverage

Most independent optometry practices send after-hours calls to voicemail. We don't. The Carlson family practice has offered 24/7 on-call coverage for our patients since 1978 because eye emergencies don't respect office hours — and the difference between a routine outcome and a permanent one often comes down to whether you reach a doctor in the first 4 hours.

Our after-hours line is staffed by a professional medical answering service. They'll triage briefly, then page the on-call PSEC doctor — typically Dr. Matt Carlson, Dr. Curtis Ono, Dr. Jennifer Andrews, Dr. John Tran, or Dr. Alex Ono — who will call you back directly. If you need to be seen in person, we coordinate an early-next-morning visit (or come in same-night for true emergencies).

Primary-source evidence

Sources cited on this page

1. [1]
   American Academy of Ophthalmology. Eye Emergencies: When to Get Urgent Care. EyeSmart, 2023. View source →
2. [2]
   Channa R, Zafar SN, Canner JK, et al. Epidemiology of Eye-Related Emergency Department Visits. JAMA Ophthalmology 2016;134(3):312-9. 2.4 million eye-related ED visits per year in the US; over 40% are diagnosed conditions that could have been seen by an optometrist. View source →