Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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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
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.