Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Understanding the reasons patients decide to attend a particular acute care service, and their expectations of that service, is important in providing optimal patient care. The present study aimed to determine factors influencing patient decisions to attend a private Australian ED, an issue that has not been previously addressed in the literature. ⋯ Patients chose to use the private ED because of prior experience, proximity, and an expectation they would be seen promptly and be provided with competent care.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2015
Can a barcode scanner for blood collection improve patient identification integrity in the emergency department? A prospective before-and-after study.
To describe the effect of interventions designed to improve patient identification (PI) during pathology collection in the ED. ⋯ ED staff had poor behaviours for identifying patients and labelling pathology specimens before intervention. These safety behaviours were considered an assumed skill. Education alone improved critical KBs markedly that was further augmented by the armband scanner. The cost to adopt education alone is relatively low compared to the addition of armband scanner technology.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2015
Self-reported preparedness of New Zealand acute care providers to mass emergencies before the Canterbury Earthquakes: A national survey.
Disasters occur more frequently. Acute care providers are the first to respond to mass emergencies from the healthcare sector. The preparedness of acute care providers in New Zealand to respond to mass emergencies has not been previously studied. ⋯ Almost half of New Zealand acute healthcare providers have no training in dealing with mass emergency events. Training and general awareness of the role during a mass emergency response were the main factors associated with strong self-reported preparedness of acute care providers. The apparent efficacy of training allied to lack of availability means that it should be a national priority.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2015
Measuring the effectiveness of a revised clinical practice guideline for the pre-hospital management of supraventricular tachycardia.
To evaluate the effect of changes to the pre-hospital management of patients with supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) following intervention with a revised Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG). The major CPG revisions were removal of verapamil, addition of adenosine and an emphasis on Valsalva manoeuvre. ⋯ The revised CPG improved pre-hospital SVT reversion success. This expansion of practice has not demonstrated improvements to utilisation or effectiveness of the Valsalva manoeuvre. Adenosine is effective and safe for pre-hospital use.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2015
Impact of formal teaching on medical documentation by interns in an emergency department in a Queensland teaching hospital.
This study's objective was to determine whether tuition in medical documentation enhanced the ability of emergency medicine interns to produce effective medical records. ⋯ The study demonstrated that documentation of clinical notes by interns can be enhanced by formal tuition.