Australasian emergency care
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Australas Emerg Care · Sep 2021
Impact of personal protective equipment on prehospital endotracheal intubation performance in simulated manikin.
Tracheal intubation in COVID-19 patients is a potentially high-risk procedure for healthcare professionals. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is recommended to minimize contact with critical patients with COVID-19 infection. This study aimed to primarily examine the effect of PPE use on intubation time and success rate among prehospital healthcare professionals; additionally, we compared intubation times among prehospital health care professionals using PPE with direct laryngoscopy and video laryngoscopy assistance. ⋯ PPE use is associated with increased intubation time and decreased success rate. Video laryngoscopy assistance in cases where PPE use is required facilitates faster endotracheal intubation than does direct laryngoscopy assistance.
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Australas Emerg Care · Mar 2021
Pain assessment following burn injury in Australia and New Zealand: Variation in practice and its association on in-hospital outcomes.
Pain is common following burn injury. Pain assessments are required to ensure appropriate pain management is provided. This study aimed to describe the prevalence and potential variation in practice of validated and documented pain assessment following burn injury in Australian and New Zealand burn units, identify clinical characteristics of patients who receive a pain assessment, and explore the associations between receiving a pain assessment and in-hospital outcomes. ⋯ There are differences in the profile of patients who receive a pain assessment after burn injury. The findings of this study will be reported back to designated burns units to improve pain assessment rates and patient care.
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Australas Emerg Care · Sep 2020
Evaluation of the reliability, utility, and quality of the information in cardiopulmonary resuscitation videos shared on Open access video sharing platform YouTube.
The internet is a widely used source for obtaining medical information both by patients and physicians. YouTube is an essential source of information that may be a useful tool to inform the public and may improve the learning experience if used adequately. In this study, we aimed to estimate the quality and accuracy of videos about cardiopulmonary resuscitation videos aired on YouTube, which is the most popular video platform of the online world. ⋯ Online information on cardiopulmonary resuscitation is of low quality, and its contents are of unknown source and accuracy. However, the educational potential of the online video platform, YouTube, cannot be neglected.
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Australas Emerg Care · Sep 2020
ReviewWork-based strategies/interventions to ameliorate stressors and foster coping for clinical staff working in emergency departments: a scoping review of the literature.
Exposure to occupational stressors is an issue for staff working in emergency departments, managers and health services. The aim of this review was to identify, map, and synthesise the range and scope of current evidence for work-based strategies or interventions used in emergency departments to reduce occupational stressors and/or improve staff coping. ⋯ Strategies ranging from mindfulness to organisational redesign have been trialed to diminish stress and enhance coping of emergency department staff. Understanding the effectiveness of strategies is an important early step in improving the working environment for emergency department clinicians in an evidence-informed manner. Such information may be of use to managers to inform decision making regarding the most appropriate strategy to implement in their emergency department.
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Australas Emerg Care · Jun 2020
The role of cognitive impairment in pain care in the emergency department for patients from residential aged care facilities: a retrospective, case-control study.
Patients with cognitive impairment are at risk of substantial delays to analgesic medication when presenting to the emergency department in pain. ⋯ Patients presenting from residential caged care facilities in this study without cogitative impairment wait longer for analgesia then patients who present with cogitative impairment, contrary to previously described relationships. Pain assessment and treatment are open to cogitative bias, and in the absence of pain assessment cogitative bias may prevail leading to poor pain care and discrepancies between patients with and without cogitative impairment.