Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2021
Case series and review of emergency front-of-neck surgical airways from The Australian and New Zealand Emergency Department Airway Registry.
An emergency front-of-neck access (eFONA), also called can't intubate, can't oxygenate (CICO) rescue, is a rare event. Little is known about the performance of surgical or percutaneous airways in EDs across Australia and New Zealand. ⋯ Most cases demonstrated deviations from standard difficult airway practice, which may have increased the likelihood of performance of a surgical airway, and its increased likelihood out of hours. Our findings may inform training strategies to improve care for ED patients requiring this critical intervention. We recommend further discussion of proposed standard terminology for emergency surgical or percutaneous airways, to facilitate clear crisis communication.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2021
Emergency Physicians' Role in Telemedicine Care during the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic: Experiences from Taiwan.
Taiwan's response to the coronavirus disease pandemic received international recognition. Among various epidemic control measures, telemedicine services are provided for people under home quarantine. Although this service presents no policy, cost or equipment problems, the medical needs of people under home quarantine are diverse. ⋯ Emergency physicians (EPs) have unique experiences in crisis management and can provide a number of effective public health measures. We advocate that EPs should be the first specialists to contact patients in a multidisciplinary team. Currently, there is a lack of literature on this subject, and Taiwan's epidemic control experience is used as an example to prove our viewpoint and provide recommendations for future EPs.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2021
Forgotten first responders: Australian surf lifesavers and lifeguards.
First responders often face traumatic and emotionally-taxing incidents in their role. Understanding their mental health and coping capacity is important for wellbeing and continued service delivery. ⋯ However, a significant literature gap exists regarding mental health of surf lifesavers and lifeguards in both the international and Australian context. Here we propose a strategy to address this gap, at the individual, organisational and community level.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2021
Estimating the proportion of patients who transition to long-term opioid use following oxycodone initiation in the emergency department.
To report the number of patients discharged from ED with oxycodone immediate release (IR) over 12 months and estimate the proportion who potentially transition to long-term opioid use and subsequent injectable heroin use. ⋯ Modelling opioid use behaviour in an ED population demonstrated the potential development of unintentional long-term opioid use, and associated harms. Prospective study is required to fully understand trajectories of patients dispensed outpatient therapy from Australian EDs.