I understand we are not to ask medical questions, but I am curious. If someone has blood in their stool, is it cause for an er trip or can an appointment be made?
IANAD but if the blood isn’t appearing in vast quantities, the stools remain their usual colour and aren’t black and there are no other symptoms then it’s almost certainly just a haemarrhoid. That’s no biggy Keep an eye on the patient and make an appointment with your GP.
No symptoms, just diahrea. But I have a bit of a cold, so it may be showing up that way.
IAAD and I need to make a comment on that statement.
While hemorrhoids are one of the most common causes of rectal pain and bright red bleeding from the rectum, there are other common causes such as fissures and fistulae.
However, those two diagnoses don’t generally rise to the level of an emergency either, so the remainder of your commentary stands.
Yes I had fresh blood in my stool. (God what I’ll say on a public MB). I went to my Dr yesterday and he told me I didn’t have hemmroids but I have a fissure in my rectum. I know it is caused by the change in my diet and I have liquid stool softner on order (I can’t swallow pills)
That’s why we keep you around. Well, that and your unparalleled knowledge of Tolkein. 
Here’s a previous thread on the subject:
QtM can correct me if I’m wrong, but my understanding is that there’s a huge difference between blood in the stool and blood appearing with the stool. The former is definitely serious; the latter probably isn’t.
Consider yourself corrected. Blood appearing with stool can still be and often is caused by cancerous lesions. Among other nasty things.
Don’t make me get graphic. 
Well, sure, there are some serious conditions that will produce blood. And if you see blood more than just temporarily, a trip to doctor is definitely in order. But isn’t the number of cases of hemorrhoids and excoriation from diarrhea vastly huger than the number of cases of cancerous lesions? Serious question, not being snarky.
No opinion on the urgency, but my suggestion would be that if you DO decide to see a GI, first see your regular doctor for a referral so that your insurance will pick up the tab. They can be funny about that sort of thing.
Huger, yes. Vastly huger, no.
Colon cancer is common. And blood in the stools is usually the first sign. If caught early, colon cancer tends to be fairly cureable. If caught late, not real cureable.
Hence the recommendation to see your doctor if you note bloody stools.
And one need not rush off to a GI specialist. Any Family Medicine doc or Internist worth a damn can do the initial evaluation and in about 75% of the cases discover a relatively benign cause, such as hemorrhoids, fissures, or fistulae, with a simple in-office anoscopic exam.
If the cause is in doubt, or the risk for a cancer is elevated (such as over age 40, family history of colon cancer, or other condition predisposing to colon cancer) then the patient may be whisked off for colonoscopy by a GI doc (or other doc trained to do colonoscopies).
Just my 2 cents: colds do not “show up” as blood in diarrhea. Blood in diarrhea (as opposed to bright red blood in somewhat hardened stool) is even less likely to be caused by hemorrhoids (which can be brought on by straining at stool).
In fact, IMO (and IANAD, but I am a nurse), bloody diarrhea warrants a call to your MD SOON.
And, of course, what QtM said.