Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2013
Disease pattern and chronic illness in rural China: the Hong Kong Red Cross basic health clinic after 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
Medical teams might have difficulties preparing for deployment to rural towns due to a lack of prior information. The study objective was to identify the health needs and chronic disease prevalence of rural Chinese following a major earthquake. ⋯ We identified that the management of chronic diseases was an important issue, especially with the high prevalence of hypertension found in our study. Medical responders need to be aware of the potential pre-existing disease burden in the community, with the possible exacerbation in post-disaster situations. Careful planning on the use of treatment guidelines with particular focus on the local health resources available and issues with continuation of care will provide better care for the patients.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2013
Private hospital emergency departments in Australia: challenges and opportunities.
Public hospital EDs in Australia have become increasingly congested because of increasing demand and access block. Six per cent of ED patients attend private hospital EDs whereas 45% of the population hold private health insurance. ⋯ This study is the first public description of patients attending private EDs in Australia. Private EDs have a significant role to play in acute medical care and in providing access to private hospitals which could alleviate pressure on public EDs. This study demonstrates the need for consolidated data based on a consistent data set and data dictionary to enable system-wide analysis, benchmarking and evaluation.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2013
Demography is destiny: an agenda for geriatric emergency medicine in Australasia.
The present paper presents an agenda for geriatric emergency medicine research, education and policy development. Herein we will argue: Population ageing is the definitive health policy challenge in Australasia, and the greatest stressor for emergency medicine posed by population ageing is the disproportionate contribution of older people to hospital occupancy. ED practices and models of care may on occasions contribute to rather than reduce high hospital occupancy in older people, benefitting neither individual patients nor the community at large. Geriatric emergency medicine priorities can be conceptualised using a simple framework, and this process will facilitate a research and policy focus on how to achieve equivalent or improved care for older people with less hospital occupancy.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2013
Case ReportsBenign acute childhood myositis following human parainfluenza virus type-1 infection.
Benign acute childhood myositis (BACM) is a post-respiratory tract infection condition of school-age children. Presentation is typically with acute onset calf pain and tenderness and refusal to walk or altered gait during the convalescent period of an influenza A or B infection. We describe a unique cluster of children with BACM following infection with human parainfluenza 1 virus, with no evidence of influenza A or B infection. ⋯ This is the first report to describe a cluster of human parainfluenza virus type-1 associated BACM. We discuss the presentation, clinical examination and investigation results of the children identified. Furthermore, we review the current research surrounding BACM, overview the clinical presentation to healthcare professionals, and present an interesting case of a child presenting for the second time with BACM.