Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2023
Comparative StudyComparison of first-pass intubation success rates between two different videolaryngoscopes in an Australian prehospital and retrieval medicine service.
To determine the effectiveness of the GlideScope Go videolaryngoscope (VL) in tracheal intubation in an Australian physician-staffed critical care prehospital and retrieval medicine service. ⋯ We demonstrated that first-pass success rates with the GlideScope Go are at least as good as our service had achieved with both the McGrath Mac and with direct laryngoscopy.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2023
Initial experience of a Priority Primary Care Centre in metropolitan Melbourne.
To report the initial experience of a newly built Priority Primary Care Centre (PPCC) from the ED perspective. ⋯ The PPCC enabled re-direction of a small proportion of ED presentations. Early results suggest that such patients can be adequately selected and managed at PPCCs.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2023
Comment Observational StudyEvaluating the use of the ABCD2 score as a clinical decision aid in the emergency department: Retrospective observational study.
Clinical decision aids (CDAs) can help clinicians with patient risk assessment. However, there is little data on CDA calculation, interpretation and documentation in real-world ED settings. The ABCD2 score (range 0-7) is a CDA used for patients with transient ischaemic attack (TIA) and assesses risk of stroke, with a score of 0-3 being low risk. The aim of this study was to describe ABCD2 score documentation in patients with an ED diagnosis of TIA. ⋯ The ABCD2 score was documented in less than half of eligible patients. When documented, clinicians were generally accurate with their calculation and application of the ABCD2. No independent predictors of ABCD2 documentation were identified.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2023
Modelled economic evaluation of a virtual emergency department in Victoria.
Virtual ED (VED) can potentially alleviate ED overcrowding which has been a public health challenge. The aim of the present study was to conduct a return-on-investment analysis of a VED programme developed in response to changing healthcare needs in Australia. ⋯ The VED was cost neutral in a conservatively modelled scenario but promising if any hospital admission could be saved. Ongoing research examining a larger cohort with community follow up is required to confirm this promising result.
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Emerg Med Australas · Dec 2023
Adult patients with constipation presenting to the emergency department: Can care be improved?
This study aimed to establish the demographic profile of adult patients presenting with constipation and constipation-related issues to an Australian tertiary hospital ED, investigate ED management and referral pathways in this cohort and determine satisfaction of these aspects of care from a patient's perspective. ⋯ This is the first study to investigate the management of constipation in adult patients in an Australian ED setting. It is important that ED clinicians recognise that functional constipation is a chronic condition and many patients have persistent symptoms. There are opportunities for quality-of-care improvements including diagnostics, treatment, and referral post-discharge to allied health, nursing and medical specialist services.