Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2019
Australian private emergency departments can assist ambulance services by taking public emergency patients during surge and disasters.
We describe a novel ambulance diversion programme, piloted in Victoria. This article discusses creating increased emergency capacity during surge or disasters by utilising private EDs, tested during a recent thunderstorm asthma disaster and an influenza epidemic. ⋯ It is feasible to create surge capacity in private EDs for public ambulance patients. Other states could consider this option to help manage health disasters.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2019
Utility of weight-bearing radiographs compared to computed tomography scan for the diagnosis of subtle Lisfranc injuries in the emergency setting.
The goal of the present study was to compare the diagnostic yield of weight-bearing radiographs with non-weight-bearing computed tomography (CT) scan for subtle Lisfranc (LF) injuries in the ED. ⋯ CT provides limited benefit in the diagnosis and initial management of suspected subtle LF injuries in the ED. We advocate for the use of bilateral weight-bearing radiographs as a first-line investigation.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2019
Daring to be wise: We are black boxes, and artificial intelligence will be the solution.
Emergency physicians seek wisdom through personal resilience, deliberate reasoning, clinical consensus and reflective practice. However, there is a limit to how useful psychological training, clinical guidelines and audit initiatives can be in the face of inherent human fallibility, increasing system complexity and escalating demand. Wisdom may be more easily attained through the careful design of new technology and this should be a priority for the emergency medicine community.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2019
Animal-vehicle collisions in Victoria, Australia: An under-recognised cause of road traffic crashes.
Non-fatal injuries sustained from animal-vehicle collisions are a globally under-recognised road safety issue, with limited data on these crash types. The present study aimed to quantify the number and causes of major trauma events resulting from animal-vehicle collisions. ⋯ Development of systematic recording methods of animal-vehicle collisions will improve reporting of these crash types to assist future studies in implementing effective countermeasures.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2019
Observational StudyEarly referral for endoscopy is the most appropriate management strategy in cases of food bolus obstruction.
To investigate the characteristics of patients presenting with oesophageal food bolus obstruction (FBO) who achieve early resolution of symptoms, and to assess the impact of medical therapies on the overall time course of FBO. ⋯ Time from symptom onset to presentation is the only predictor of early resolution from FBO, while medical therapy is ineffective in relieving obstruction and may delay definitive therapy. We recommend the use of an institutional management plan to facilitate early access to endoscopy in cases of FBO.