Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2015
Can emergency physicians accurately and reliably assess acute vertigo in the emergency department?
To validate a clinical diagnostic tool, used by emergency physicians (EPs), to diagnose the central cause of patients presenting with vertigo, and to determine interrater reliability of this tool. ⋯ In the hands of EPs, STANDING showed a good inter-observer agreement and accuracy validated against the local standard of care.
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The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) will introduce high stakes simulation-based summative assessment in the form of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) into the Fellowship Examination from 2015. Miller's model emphasises that, no matter how realistic the simulation, it is still a simulation and examinees do not necessarily behave as in real life. ⋯ However, the need to validate the OSCE is emphasised by conflicting evidence on correlation with long-term faculty assessments, between essential actions checklists and global assessment scores and variable interrater reliability within individual OSCE stations and for crisis resource management skills. Although OSCEs can be a valid, reliable and acceptable assessment tool, the onus is on the examining body to ensure construct validity and high interrater reliability.
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To describe patterns of ED utilisation over time, by patient age group and triage classification. ⋯ The age range with the greatest absolute number of ED presentations in Victoria is children 0-4 years of age. This finding is consistent over time and across all triage classifications. The age range with the second highest absolute number of ED presentations is comprised of those 20-24 years of age. This is in contrast to the frequent public attention placed on the volume of ED presentations by the elderly.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2015
Should external short courses be a compulsory part of ACEM specialty training? No.
I am proud to be a product of an excellent training system that builds trainees and fellows with an ongoing desire to learn. Dogmatic incorporation of external courses into training would be incongruent with medical education best practice principles upon which the new curriculum is founded. I am confident that our junior colleagues can – as we were – be trusted for generations to come to fashion their own learning paths, identifying and addressing their own knowledge gaps, using whatever media engages them best.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2015
Using lithium ion batteries in the aeromedical environment: A calculated risk?
Lithium ion batteries are increasingly utilised within helicopter emergency medical services. Their favourable chemical profile confers many desirable properties: they are small, lightweight and provide a high specific capacity (energy to weight ratio) coupled with a slow self-discharge rate, ensuring a longer functional availability for vital equipment. They are frequently used in routine medical equipment including ventilators, monitors and intravenous pumps, and in aviation specific items, such as satellite and mobile phones, VHF radios and navigation systems.