Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2014
Management of children with possible appendicitis: A survey of emergency physicians in Australia and New Zealand.
To describe current practice in managing children with possible acute appendicitis in EDs in Australia and New Zealand as the basis for a clinical practice guideline (CPG). ⋯ This survey of senior emergency physicians across Australia and New Zealand demonstrated congruence in several clinical markers and disagreements in others in the approach to diagnosing children with possible appendicitis. Whereas emergency physicians would like a validated CPG, this survey has highlighted some critical issues. Particularly, the low regard for blood tests, integral to published diagnostic scoring systems, will be a challenge for the development and introduction of such a CPG in Australia and New Zealand.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2014
Are YouTube videos accurate and reliable on basic life support and cardiopulmonary resuscitation?
The objective of this study is to investigate reliability and accuracy of the information on YouTube videos related to CPR and BLS in accord with 2010 CPR guidelines. ⋯ The majority of You-Tube video clips purporting to be about CPR are not relevant educational material. Of those that are focused on teaching CPR, only a small minority optimally meet the 2010 Resucitation Guidelines.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2014
Emergency weight estimation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the Northern Territory: Are the current methods accurate?
During a paediatric emergency, it is often impractical to weigh a child. Many resuscitative measures require a child's weight; therefore, estimation is often used. Different methods are available to do this, usually based on a child's age or length. The accuracy of these methods has not been validated in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from remote communities. The objective of this study was to determine how well these paediatric emergency weight estimation methods predict weight for this group of children. ⋯ Our data support the use of the Broselow® Tape as the recommended method when estimating weight in an emergency for remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the NT for the 0-5 year age group.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2014
Observational StudyIdentifying the site for intercostal catheter insertion in the emergency department: Is clinical examination reliable?
To determine whether ED doctors, comprising both consultants and registrars, can accurately identify the 4th or 5th intercostal space (ICS), commonly used for intercostal catheter insertion. ⋯ Emergency registrars and consultants sampled from a regional ED appeared unable to reliably identify the 4th or 5th ICS, as evidenced by marker position, in a heterogeneous patient population.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2014
Observational StudyIs clinical performance adversely affected by wearing gloves during paediatric peripheral intravenous cannulation?
To investigate if wearing protective gloves during paediatric intravenous cannulation affects performance of the procedure. ⋯ The present study shows that the use of protective gloves was not associated with adverse outcomes of clinical performance during paediatric cannulation. The low compliance rate of gloves use is alarming, and many clinicians might be exposed to potential blood-borne infections. Clinicians should be encouraged and supported to use gloves for paediatric cannulation.