Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2020
SARS-CoV-2 Testing and Outcomes in the First 30 Days after the First Case of COVID-19 at an Australian Children's Hospital.
International studies describing COVID-19 in children have shown low proportions of paediatric cases and generally a mild clinical course. We aimed to present early data on children tested for SARS-CoV-2 at a large Australian tertiary children's hospital according to the state health department guidelines, which varied over time. ⋯ Our study identified a very low rate of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases in children presenting to a tertiary ED or RIC, none of whom were admitted to hospital. A high proportion of patients who were SARS-CoV-2 negative had comorbidities.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2020
Epidemiology and clinical features of emergency department patients with suspected COVID-19: Results from the first month of the COVED Quality Improvement Project (COVED-2).
The aim of the present study was to describe the epidemiological and clinical features of ED patients with suspected and confirmed COVID-19. ⋯ The volume of ED patients with suspected COVID-19 is increasing. Low numbers of positive cases precluded development of accurate predictive tools, but the COVED Project is fulfilling an important role in monitoring the burden of infection prevention and control requirements on the ED. The increasing number of patients meeting isolation criteria has the potential to impact on patient flow and may lead to ED overcrowding.
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To assess the feasibility of using rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM®)-sigma and thromboelastography (TEG®)-6s viscoelastic point-of-care assays during rotary wing aeromedical transport, and to determine the reliability of the results obtained. ⋯ It is feasible to reliably run tests on both the ROTEM-sigma and TEG-6s after the devices have been flown in a rotary wing aircraft. However, testing cannot be performed while in flight conditions. It is also possible to run blood samples collected up to 3 h prior and acquire results which correlate well with initial testing.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2020
Children and adolescents with severe acute behavioural disturbance in the emergency department.
Mental health (MH) presentations to ED are increasing in children and adolescents. Little is known about patients with severe acute behavioural disturbance (ABD). We set out to describe patients with ABD severe enough to trigger an acute crisis team response in ED (termed 'Code Grey') and how they differ from other MH patients. ⋯ Children and adolescents with severe ABD differ from other MH presentations and often require physical or chemical restraint. Anticipatory management plans may be valuable for repeat presenters.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2020
What proportion of healthcare worker masks carry virus? A systematic review.
Concerns have been raised by healthcare organisations in New Zealand that routine mask use by healthcare workers (HCW) may increase the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through increased face touching. Routine mask use by frontline HCW was not recommended when seeing 'low risk' patients. The aim of this review was to determine the carriage of respiratory viruses on facemasks used by HCW. ⋯ Although limited, current evidence suggests that viral carriage on the outer surface of surgical masks worn by HCW treating patients with clinical respiratory illness is low and there was not strong evidence to support the assumption that mask use may increase the risk of viral transmission.