Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2020
Restrictive interventions in Victorian emergency departments: A study of current clinical practice.
To determine current clinical practices for managing behavioural emergencies within Victorian public hospital EDs. ⋯ Restrictive interventions in the ED largely occurred under a Duty of Care. Care of patients managed under legislation that covers assessment and treatment of mental illness has a strong clinical governance framework and focus on minimising restrictive interventions. However, this is not applied to the majority of patients who experience restraint in Victorian EDs.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2020
Observational StudyPrevalence of illicit substance use among patients presenting to the emergency department with acute behavioural disturbance: Rapid point-of-care saliva screening.
To determine the prevalence of illicit substance use among patients presenting to one ED with acute behavioural disturbance using point-of-care saliva testing. ⋯ The prevalence of illicit substance use among this cohort was 40%. Self-reporting was unreliable. Point-of-care saliva testing is feasible. Early identification of harmful drug use may assist clinical decision making in selected or undifferentiated cases and provide an opportunity to implement harm minimisation strategies and make referrals.