Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2015
Should external short courses be a compulsory part of ACEM specialty training? Yes.
Implementation of a series of mandatory short courses for ACEM trainees will necessitate clear pathways to accreditation, rigourous application of standards and demonstration by course providers of high-quality teaching of up-to-date practices. Trainees and their patients stand to reap wide-ranging benefits from these courses, which might also facilitate the transition to competency- (rather than time-) based training through the College. Completion by all trainees of compulsory courses will provide the community with clarity about the standards to which emergency physicians are trained and might result in improvements in patient outcomes – the very reason for our trainees' hard work and dedication.
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To describe patterns of ED utilisation over time, by patient age group and triage classification. ⋯ The age range with the greatest absolute number of ED presentations in Victoria is children 0-4 years of age. This finding is consistent over time and across all triage classifications. The age range with the second highest absolute number of ED presentations is comprised of those 20-24 years of age. This is in contrast to the frequent public attention placed on the volume of ED presentations by the elderly.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2015
Comparative StudyParacetamol poisoning in adolescents in an Australian setting: Not quite adults.
To describe and compare the characteristics of paracetamol poisoning in adolescent and adult patients. ⋯ Adolescents ingested comparable amounts of paracetamol to adults, when presenting with deliberate self-poisoning. However, there were significant differences in co-ingested medications and the reason for ingestion of paracetamol. Histamine reactions to NAC were more common in adolescents; however, most were mild. Overall, outcome was favourable in both cohorts.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2015
Should we change chest compression providers every 2 min when performing one-handed chest compressions?
Because the one-handed chest compression (OHCC) technique uses one hand, unlike the two-handed chest compression (THCC) technique, compression depth might be reduced more rapidly in OHCC than THCC. The present study was conducted to determine whether compression depth was affected within 2 min after the start of OHCC in a simulated in-hospital paediatric arrest model. ⋯ Compression depth was decreased significantly from 30 s onwards after starting the OHCC technique using a simulated paediatric arrest model. The results of the present study suggest that future strategies should be established to prevent a decrease in compression depth within 1 min during OHCC.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2015
New Zealand Emergency Medicine Network: A collaboration for acute care research in New Zealand.
The specialty of emergency medicine in Australasia is coming of age. As part of this maturation there is a need for high-quality evidence to inform practice. This article describes the development of the New Zealand Emergency Medicine Network, a collaboration of committed emergency care researchers who share the vision that New Zealand/Aotearoa will have a world-leading, patient-centred emergency care research network, which will improve emergency care for all, so that people coming to any ED in the country will have access to the same world-class emergency care.