Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2011
Bedside review of patient care in an emergency department: The Cow Round.
Clinical handover is a critical point in medical care in the ED, which can contribute to adverse effects for patient care and staff workloads. Over a 4 and a half months in a tertiary referral hospital ED, a centralized whiteboard handover was performed followed by a multidisciplinary review of each patient. This round was referred to as the 'Cow Round'. ⋯ Review of patients led by a senior member of medical staff, at the patient bedside enables the timely identification and management of issues not communicated during the whiteboard handover process. This review is important when more patients are receiving treatment in the department.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2011
Case ReportsShifting Gas Artefact Sign: Early sonographic detection of pneumoperitoneum.
This case report describes the use of ultrasound to diagnose pneumoperitoneum in an unstable patient with abdominal pain. Gas in peritoneum produces a specific sonographic appearance. The use of dynamic manoeuvres improves confidence in the ultrasound diagnosis of free gas. ⋯ The literature on sonographic detection of pneumoperitoneum is reviewed. The detection of pneumoperitoneum is a significant finding in non-traumatic abdominal pain and also in blunt abdominal trauma. In both settings more research is required to validate the utility of the test in the acute setting.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2011
Patient perceptions of the potential lethality associated with deliberate self-poisoning.
Little is known about patient perceptions of the lethality of their overdose. Our aim was to compare patient perceptions with the risk assessment of clinical toxicologists. ⋯ Patient perceptions of the lethality of their overdose are correlated with their suicidal intent as measured on the Pierce SIS, with a significant mismatch between patient perceptions and the toxicological risk assessment.