Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2016
Description of the ambulance services participating in the Aus-ROC Australian and New Zealand out-of-hospital cardiac arrest Epistry.
The present study aimed to describe and examine similarities and differences in the current service provision and resuscitation protocols of the ambulance services participating in the Aus-ROC Australian and New Zealand out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) Epistry. Understanding these similarities and differences is important in identifying ambulance service factors that might explain regional variation in survival of OHCA in the Aus-ROC Epistry. ⋯ There is marked variation between ambulance services currently participating in the Aus-ROC Australian and New Zealand OHCA Epistry with respect to workforce characteristics and key variable definitions. This variation between ambulance services might account for a proportion of the regional variation in survival of OHCA.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2016
Observational StudyFinger counting method is more accurate than age-based weight estimation formulae in estimating the weight of Hong Kong children presenting to the emergency department.
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the finger counting method and compare its performance with four commonly used age-based weight estimation formulae in children aged 1-9 years presenting to the ED in Hong Kong. ⋯ The finger counting method outperforms the commonly used age-based weight estimation formulae in children aged 1-9 years presenting to the ED in Hong Kong.
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To describe the characteristics of adolescents presenting with deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) to a large Australian healthcare network. ⋯ Adolescent DSP presentations frequently involved impulsive ingestion of over-the-counter medications, suggesting less access to prescription medications. Additionally, pre-existing mental health history and re-presentation were common. Initiatives to prevent DSP might include an increased focus on the early identification and management of mental health problems in adolescents in the community.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2016
Blunt chest trauma in a non-specialist centre: Right treatment, right place?
To compare patient characteristics, management and outcomes for patients admitted with isolated blunt chest trauma, managed by medical or surgical teams. ⋯ Amongst patients with isolated blunt chest trauma, those managed by medical teams were older, had more comorbidities and were more likely to have become injured with a low trauma fall than those managed by surgical teams. They had less access to analgesic options, developed pneumonia more often and had higher mortality.