Annals of family medicine
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2024
Emergency Medical Services Personnel Compliance with Escalating Airway Algorithm Protocol.
Introduction. When emergency medical services (EMS) personnel respond to emergencies, the decisions they make often can mean life or death for the patient. This is especially true in the case of advanced airway management. ⋯ Our data showed that EMS personnel in Sedgwick County/Wichita, Kansas often deviated from the advanced airway management protocols when caring for patients in need of respiratory intervention. Dirty airway was the main reason for using a more invasive approach in achieving the goals of appropriate oxygenation and ventilation. It is important to understand reasons why deviations in protocol were occurring to ensure that current protocols, documentation, and training practices are effective in producing the best possible patient outcomes.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2024
Factors affecting Family Physician follow-up 30 days post-discharge from a Canadian Academic Emergency Department.
Close outpatient follow-up of patients discharged from the emergency department (ED) has been associated with improved antimicrobial stewardship, medication compliance, and decreased mortality. Despite these clear benefits, studies have shown most patients do not receive follow-up from specialists or Family Physicians (FP). While age, race and insurance status may be factors in Australia and the United States, there remains a paucity of Canadian studies investigating potential factors that influence follow-up. ⋯ Based on this study, there is insufficient evidence to suggest that documented discharge instructions nor the use of a FP referral form impact the rate of follow-up. Future work should focus on an optimal mechanism to ensure Family Physician follow-up, when required, in urban centres. The impact of mental health and substance use disorders on the rate of follow-up should also be evaluated.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2024
Beyond Education: What is required to support staff to promote equity-oriented health care in EDs?
Context: Staff in Canadian Emergency Departments (EDs) face increasing workplace demands arising in part from system-wide shortages in primary and community care. Patients experiencing stigmatizing conditions such as chronic pain, substance use, and psychiatric disorders may turn to the ED as the only open "door" to access care in the community. Objective: To examine staff perceptions about their work and role, including how they may be prepared or not to address issues of health and health care inequities in EDs. ⋯ Conclusions: The impacts of shortages in primary care reverberate throughout the system. EDs often prioritize efficiency, a focus which cannot adequately equip staff to promote equity. Attention and commitment to addressing structural inequities within EDs could support patients and staff to move closer to the quintuple aim.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2024
Predicting unplanned hospitalisations in older adults using routinely recorded general practice data.
Context: Unplanned hospitalisations represent a hazardous event for older persons. Timely identification of high-risk individuals using a prediction tool may facilitate preventive interventions. Objective: To develop and validate an easy-to-use prediction model for unplanned hospitalisations in community-dwelling older adults using readily available data to allow rapid bedside assessment by general practitioners. ⋯ Conclusions: Our models showed satisfactory predictive ability. Reducing the number of predictors and geographic validation did not impact predictive performance, demonstrating the robustness of the model. We developed an easy-to-use tool that may assist general practitioners in decision-making and targeted preventive interventions.
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Annals of family medicine · Nov 2024
Rapid Antigen Testing in School Health Offices for Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A.
Context: Evaluation of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) has been disrupted by the SARS-CoV-2 (SC2) pandemic, limiting comprehensive surveillance for respiratory pathogens in clinical settings. Alternatives to using medically attended ARI for public health surveillance are needed. A potential approach involves assessing children and school personnel in school health offices (SHOs) as pandemic-related responses enhanced innovative approaches for SC2 testing in novel settings. ⋯ The maximum cross correlation (r=0.69) occurred with DC lagging OSD by 1 week. Conclusions: Surveillance for significant respiratory pathogens can be based on rapid antigen testing within SHOs, is highly comparable with larger scale surveillance programs, and demonstrates either advanced (FluA) or concurrent detections (SC2). Performance of similar programs are needed in other geographical areas and for other pathogens.