Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
-
Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2019
Use of and attitudes to the role of medication for acute whiplash injury: A preliminary survey of emergency department doctors.
Describe current practice of medication prescribing for acute whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) in the ED and explore attitudes towards pregabalin prescription for WAD. ⋯ Opioids appear to be over-prescribed. Further research into pregabalin prescription in ED is warranted.
-
Caustic ingestion is a frequent presentation to EDs and encompasses a wide range of injury to the gastrointestinal tract. Endoscopy has long been considered the gold standard of investigation, even in patients with low likelihood of severe injury, and informs the decision for emergency surgery. ⋯ CT scan also accurately predicts risk of stricture formation. We propose an algorithm for the use of CT scan, rather than endoscopy, as the first-line investigation in the assessment of caustic ingestion.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2019
Impacts on in-event, ambulance and emergency department services from patients presenting from a mass gathering event: A retrospective analysis.
The aim of this study was to describe the in-event, ambulance and ED impacts of patient presentations from an Australian mass gathering event (MGE) including patient demographics, provision of care, length of stay and discharge disposition. ⋯ There was an impact on in-event, ambulance and ED services from this MGE but the in-event model of care may have limited ambulance usage and ED visits. The ED length of stay was greater than the national median, perhaps reflecting the appropriateness of transport and nature of care requirements while in the ED.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2019
A BRILL idea? The benefits, risks, insights, learning and limitations of an emergency airway registry in pre-hospital and retrieval medicine.
Airway management is a cornerstone of emergency care. Development of a robust evidence base to support the practice of pre-hospital emergency anaesthesia is key to the safety and evolution of this common but high-risk procedure. This paper discusses the benefits, risks, insights, learning and limitations of the use of an airway registry in pre-hospital and retrieval medicine, for both research and quality improvement purposes.