Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2016
Improving clean-catch contamination rates: A prospective interventional cohort study.
The clean-catch method of urine collection carries a high contamination rate. This study aims to evaluate the effects on contamination rate of providing a parent handout and pre-made urine collection pack for clean-catch urine collection. ⋯ The contamination rate of clean-catch urine did not improve with the implementation of a pre-made urine collection pack including standardised written instructions.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2016
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyEnd-of-life issues: Withdrawal and withholding of life-sustaining healthcare in the emergency department: A comparison between emergency physicians and emergency registrars: A sub-study.
We investigated and compared the importance of the considerations and discussions when withdrawing and withholding life-sustaining healthcare between emergency physicians (EP) and emergency registrars (ER). ⋯ We found that ER were more likely to withdraw/withhold life-sustaining healthcare, provide partial treatment, rate different considerations as important and their patients took longer to die than that of EP. Focused education and training might improve decision-making consistency between physicians and training registrars.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2016
Observational StudyChanging paediatric emergency department model of care is associated with improvements in the National Emergency Access Target and a decrease in inpatient admissions.
To assess the impact on patient flow as noted by the National Emergency Access Target (NEAT), with the introduction of a new Paediatric ED (PEM ED) model of care. ⋯ NEAT times improved after changing the PEM ED model of care. Further studies may assist identifying which of the specific features within the new model are most effective for improving patient flow.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2016
A human cadaveric workshop: One solution to competence in the face of rarity.
Competent performance of cricothyroidotomy, lateral canthotomy and resuscitative thoracostomy is an expected standard for Australasian emergency physicians, but infrequent exposure to these procedures could impair physician confidence, reducing the likelihood of their execution in a critical timeframe. Training to perform these procedures is a recognised challenge for non-surgeons, and cadaver-based training is one method of addressing this need. We describe a 1 day cadaver-based workshop for emergency medicine doctors and briefly report on its impact on physician confidence. This workshop appeared effective in increasing the confidence of emergency medicine physicians to carry out rarely performed life and sight-saving procedures and also provides an opportunity for senior clinicians to increase compliance with continuing profession development schemes.