Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2017
Impact of emergency department discharge stream short stay unit performance and hospital bed occupancy rates on access and patient flowmeasures: A single site study.
The ED discharge stream short stay units (EDSSUs) aim to facilitate patient flows through EDs. We investigate the relationship between EDSSU census and hospital bed occupancy rates (BORs) on National Emergency Access Target (NEAT) performance and did-not-wait (DNW) rates at a tertiary metropolitan adult ED in Sydney, Australia. ⋯ Appropriate use of EDSSU provides effective conduit for ongoing patients' management beyond mandated timelines. Health systems should focus on reducing hospital BORs to mitigate exclusive ED pressure to deliver NEAT performance targets.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2017
Evaluation of a targeted prescriber education intervention on emergency department discharge oxycodone prescribing.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on ED discharge opioid analgesic (OA) prescribing. ⋯ A brief, one-on-one educational intervention targeting ED OA prescribers was well received by clinicians and associated with improved quality of OA prescribing.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2017
A review of the burns caseload of a physician-based helicopter emergency medical service.
The aim of this study was to describe patient demographics, injuries, physiology and interventions performed by retrieval physicians in the care of burns patients in both a pre-hospital and interhospital setting. ⋯ The Service cares for 80-100 burns patients annually, a proportion of whom require complex interventions such as intubation and escharotomy, which was performed by retrieval physicians appropriately. Associated traumatic injuries were infrequent in patients who sustained burns from flashes or explosions.