Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Patient outcome feedback has been defined as 'the natural process of finding out what happens to one's patients after their evaluation and treatment (in the ED)'. It seems likely that emergency medicine trainees and Fellows will improve their diagnostic accuracy if they increase the frequency with which they find out what happens to their patients. Not only does this allow testing of their own diagnosis with the final diagnosis, but also allows meaningful feedback on therapies commenced in the ED. We believe that seeking outcome feedback should be more actively encouraged by the ACEM training programme.
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Each year, the Newborn and Paediatric Emergency Transport Service (NETS) receives over 3600 calls from health professionals regarding the management and transportation of critically ill children across New South Wales, with toxicological emergencies making up 1.5% of these calls. The aim of the present study is to describe the characteristics of patients transported for toxicological emergencies and their retrieval management. ⋯ Many children with toxicological emergencies require only non-invasive monitoring, which could be provided by trained ambulance crews in select scenarios. Involvement of a toxicologist in the initial consultation to identify these patients might reduce retrieval numbers and costs. Children on regular medication and those living with family members on psychotropic or cardiac drugs were identified as high-risk groups that should be targeted for medication safety education.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2014
Traumatic orbital compartment syndrome: Importance of the lateral canthomy and cantholysis.
Orbital compartment syndrome (OCS) is an ophthalmic emergency that requires urgent surgical decompression to preserve vision. ⋯ Prompt decompression is essential for visual recovery in OCS, which appears maximal if performed within 2 h of injury. All patients presenting with history and examination findings suggestive of OCS should undergo emergency canthotomy and cantholysis prior to any additional investigations to minimise visual loss.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2014
Intralipid therapy does not improve level of consciousness in overdoses with sedating drugs: A case series.
To assess the effect of intralipid emulsion therapy (ILE) in sedating drugs presenting to an urban emergency department. ⋯ This study does not support any clinically significant effect of intralipid in sedating drug overdose.