Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2015
Can emergency physicians accurately and reliably assess acute vertigo in the emergency department?
To validate a clinical diagnostic tool, used by emergency physicians (EPs), to diagnose the central cause of patients presenting with vertigo, and to determine interrater reliability of this tool. ⋯ In the hands of EPs, STANDING showed a good inter-observer agreement and accuracy validated against the local standard of care.
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The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) will introduce high stakes simulation-based summative assessment in the form of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) into the Fellowship Examination from 2015. Miller's model emphasises that, no matter how realistic the simulation, it is still a simulation and examinees do not necessarily behave as in real life. ⋯ However, the need to validate the OSCE is emphasised by conflicting evidence on correlation with long-term faculty assessments, between essential actions checklists and global assessment scores and variable interrater reliability within individual OSCE stations and for crisis resource management skills. Although OSCEs can be a valid, reliable and acceptable assessment tool, the onus is on the examining body to ensure construct validity and high interrater reliability.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2015
Historical ArticleAustralasian disasters of national significance: An epidemiological analysis, 1900-2012.
A regional epidemiological analysis of Australasian disasters in the 20th century to present was undertaken to examine trends in disaster epidemiology; to characterise the impacts on civil society through disaster policy, practice and legislation; and to consider future potential limitations in national disaster resilience. ⋯ Timeline analysis reveals an increasing incidence in natural disasters over the past 15 years, with the most lethal and costly disasters occurring in the past 3 years. Vulnerability to disaster in Australasia appears to be increasing. Reactive legislation is a recurrent feature of Australasian disaster response that suggests legislative shortsightedness and a need for comprehensive all-hazards model legislation in the future.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2015
SPEEDBOMB: A simple and rapid checklist for Prehospital Rapid Sequence Induction.
Prehospital emergency medical services often operate in the most challenging and austere environments. Checklist use for complex tasks in these circumstances is useful but must make task completion simpler, faster and more effective. The SPEEDBOMB checklist for Prehospital Rapid Sequence Induction (PRSI) management rapidly addresses critical steps in the RSI process, is designed to improve checklist compliance and patient safety, and is adaptable for local circumstances.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2015
Using lithium ion batteries in the aeromedical environment: A calculated risk?
Lithium ion batteries are increasingly utilised within helicopter emergency medical services. Their favourable chemical profile confers many desirable properties: they are small, lightweight and provide a high specific capacity (energy to weight ratio) coupled with a slow self-discharge rate, ensuring a longer functional availability for vital equipment. They are frequently used in routine medical equipment including ventilators, monitors and intravenous pumps, and in aviation specific items, such as satellite and mobile phones, VHF radios and navigation systems.