Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2014
Understanding emergency department staff needs and perceptions in the provision of palliative care.
The primary aim of the present study was to investigate Australian ED staff perspectives and needs regarding palliative care provision. Secondary aims were to assess staff views about death and dying, and their awareness of common causes of death in Australia, particularly those where a palliative care approach is appropriate. ⋯ Our study suggests that although ED staff expressed confidence regarding symptom management in palliative care, they lacked understanding of the patients in whom a palliative approach could be applied and sought further education in areas, such as end-of-life communication and ethical issues. ED specific training and clinical interventions in palliative care provision would seem to be needed and justified.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2014
Letter Case ReportsComplete airway obstruction in an infant caused by a toy balloon.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2014
ReviewReview article: Shock Index for prediction of critical bleeding post-trauma: A systematic review.
Early diagnosis of haemorrhagic shock (HS) might be difficult because of compensatory mechanisms. Clinical scoring systems aimed at predicting transfusion needs might assist in early identification of patients with HS. The Shock Index (SI) - defined as heart rate divided by systolic BP - has been proposed as a simple tool to identify patients with HS. ⋯ An association between higher SI and bleeding was demonstrated in all studies. The SI is a readily available tool and may be useful in predicting CB on arrival to hospital. The evaluation of improved utility of the SI by performing and recording at earlier time-points, including the pre-hospital phase, is indicated.