Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2015
Model to predict inpatient mortality from information gathered at presentation to an emergency department: The Triage Information Mortality Model (TIMM).
To derive and validate a mortality prediction model from information available at ED triage. ⋯ The model successfully predicts inpatient mortality from information available at the point of triage in the ED.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2015
Public use and perceptions of emergency departments: A population survey.
To inform demand management strategies aimed at reducing congestion in EDs by: (i) identifying public use of EDs, decision-making and reasons; and (ii) measuring acceptance of alternative care models. ⋯ Main reason for attending ED is perceived severity of illness, followed by lack of alternative care. The majority of both consumers and the public are in favour of more flexible care models. However, further research is necessary to detail those alternatives and to test and validate their effectiveness.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2015
Staff perceptions of palliative care in a public Australian, metropolitan emergency department.
The primary aim was to investigate staff experiences and attitudes towards palliative care provision in a public metropolitan ED. ⋯ Our study suggests that overall ED staff were confident regarding symptom management in palliative care. Cancer diagnoses were overrepresented in both the top five causes of death and conditions most appropriate for a palliative approach, suggesting that staff might underestimate the role of a palliative approach in non-cancer diagnoses. Areas suggested for further education include communication and ethical issues surrounding end-of-life care.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2015
Preventing and reducing the impacts of intimate partner violence: Opportunities for Australian ambulance services.
Violence against women is pervasive worldwide, and a high proportion of the most damaging violence is perpetrated by male intimate partners. The Australian government is committed to action to prevent such violence; however, strategies require input and collaboration from all agencies engaging patients, including ambulance services. To date no Australian ambulance service has published comprehensive guidelines or strategies to improve health outcomes for intimate partner violence patients in line with national strategies. ⋯ Australian ambulance services are currently underserving intimate partner violence patients and must undertake immediate action. Successful strategies to address knowledge and policy gaps will require significant input and guidance from key organisations, including advocacy groups, police and EDs. It is likely that EDs will need to take the lead in creating comprehensive policies and guidelines from which ambulance services can derive their own policies. Failure to address this practice gap might result in paramedics becoming a barrier for intimate partner patients to receive appropriate care and support.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2015
Can the critically ill consent to participation in commercial television programmes? An Australian prehospital and emergency medicine perspective.
The fly-on-the-wall medical documentary is a popular television phenomenon. When patients can give appropriate consent to filming, the final product can be both educational for the public and rewarding for its subjects. However, in the dynamic world of emergency and prehospital medicine, consenting critically ill patients before filming is a significant challenge. ⋯ Ultimate responsibility for defending the patients' interests during their medical treatment rests with the medical practitioner. We argue that filming a patient without prior consent in both the prehospital and emergency environment is ethically unsound: it threatens trust in the healthcare relationship and might compromise the patient's dignity and privacy. Robust guidelines should be developed for all healthcare professionals who engage with commercial film crews.