Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2024
Presence of alcohol and other drug use within youth mental health presentations to the emergency department: A single-site retrospective observational study.
Youth mental health is a growing issue, which can be worsened by alcohol and other drug (AOD) use. The present study aimed to characterise the association of AOD use in youth presenting to an ED with a mental health crisis. ⋯ In New Zealand, it is not legal to sell alcohol to persons under 18 years; however, this was the most commonly identified drug impacting on youth mental health presentations. There is a known association between alcohol use and adverse mental health symptoms; therefore, efforts to decrease access to alcohol in this age group must continue, and harm reduction interventions to reduce clinically significant overdoses recommended.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2024
Benchmarking blood culture quality in the emergency department: Contamination, single sets and positivity.
To benchmark blood culture (BC) quality in an Australian ED, explore groups at risk of suboptimal BC collection, and identify potential areas for improvement. ⋯ BC quality standards in the ED such as false positive rate <3% and single culture rate <20% are required to facilitate benchmarking and prospective quality improvement. The sensitivity and specificity of this common and critical test can be improved. Patient subgroups associated with poor-quality BC collection can be identified and should be a focus of future work.
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To assess Australian and New Zealand emergency clinicians' attitudes towards the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in emergency medicine. ⋯ Emergency clinicians interviewed were generally optimistic about the use of AI in emergency medicine, so long as it is used as a decision support tool and they maintain the ability to override its recommendations.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2024
Modelling a two-stream emergency department segregation and admission system from COVID-19 early rapid antigen testing: A pilot study.
Many factors influence patient flow through an ED, including streaming, treatment spaces and staff resources. This pilot study explored and compared real time patient flow using a single-stream system versus varying configurations of possible two-stream systems using computer simulation. ⋯ Data-driven modelling within specific clinical settings can inform the (in)efficiency of patient flow processes and help clinicians and managers make evidence-based decisions about patient transition through EDs. This can assist with reconfiguration of ED patient streaming particularly during periods of unique need, such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic.