Open access emergency medicine : OAEM
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Open Access Emerg Med · Jan 2021
ReviewEmergency Medical Services (EMS) Calls During COVID-19: Early Lessons Learned for Systems Planning (A Narrative Review).
Over the course of the COVID-19 progress, reports from many locations around the world indicated major increases in EMS call volume, which imposed great pressure on EMS dispatch centers (EMSDC) globally. No studies yet have been done to examine this phenomenon. ⋯ Over the course of COVID-19 progress, there was a global phenomenon of exponential increases in EMS calls, which is expected to impose a great pressure on EMS dispatch centers. Several factors contributing to the bottleneck of EMS calls are identified and explained.
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Open Access Emerg Med · Jan 2021
The Use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Arthrocentesis Among Emergency Medicine Residents.
The objective of this study is to determine if EM resident physicians are able to successfully utilize POCUS to perform an arthrocentesis in the ED. This is a retrospective review of ED patients who received an ultrasound-guided or ultrasound-assisted arthrocentesis performed in the ED over a 6-year period by an EM resident physician. ⋯ EM resident physicians are able to utilize POCUS to perform an arthrocentesis in the ED. Further research is encouraged to determine whether having residents utilize POCUS to perform an arthrocentesis has a significant impact on outcomes and patient care.
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Open Access Emerg Med · Jan 2021
Socioeconomic and Clinical Predictors of Mortality in Patients with Acute Dyspnea.
Factors predicting long-term prognosis in patients with acute dyspnea may guide both acute management and follow-up. The aim of this study was to identify socioeconomic and clinical risk factors for all-cause mortality among acute dyspnea patients admitted to an Emergency Department. ⋯ Apart from several clinical risk factors, low annual income predicts two-year mortality risk in patients with acute dyspnea. This is not the case for country of birth and living in IDUD. Our results underline the wide range of mortality risk factors in acute dyspnea patients. Knowledge of patients' annual income as well as certain clinical features may aid risk stratification and determining the need of follow-up both in hospital and after discharge from an ED.
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Open Access Emerg Med · Jan 2021
Current Use, Perceived Barriers, and Learning Preference of Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) in the Emergency Medicine in Qatar - A Mixed Design.
Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) has been a part of emergency medicine (EM) training for almost two decades. EM training program has a very broad and rigorous POCUS curricula which, in several cases, does not translate to routine application in clinical settings. This study therefore sought to compare the indications, utilization, barriers, and preferred POCUS educational method in a large Middle Eastern academic EM. ⋯ POCUS perceived barriers to its full use include time constraints, lack of national guidelines, and credentialing (awarding POCUS qualifications) of the faculty. Blended learning appears to be the preferred approach towards acquiring the knowledge and skills of POCUS.