Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2012
Assessment of the effect of Advanced Paediatric Life Support training on level of self-perceived preparedness among health-care workers in Cambodia.
The objective of this study was to survey the self-perceived preparedness of Cambodia's Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) providers towards their APLS training and accreditation 5 years post-implementation. ⋯ APLS training has increased the self-perceived preparedness of paediatric health-care workers in Cambodia. RESULTS indicate moderate relevance to real patient resuscitations experienced by health workers, and the perceived recall of the teachings and sense of preparation from APLS training does not significantly decline over time. However, our results suggest subsequent further APLS instructor courses might maintain resuscitation preparedness.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyAustralian triage tags: a prospective, randomised cross-over trial and evaluation of user preference.
The aim of this study was to determine if any disaster triage tag is superior to others, based on objective parameters (time, accuracy) and subjective parameters (user preference). A secondary aim was to determine the average time to perform triage assessment using 'sieve and sort'. ⋯ The SMART card was preferred by participants based on design issues, which supports its implementation. We suggest that doctors are best used in the casualty clearing post.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2012
ReviewSelection and validation of quality indicators for the Shorter Stays in Emergency Departments National Research Project.
Despite the spread of time targets for ED lengths of stay around the world, there have been few studies exploring the effects of such policies on quality of ED care. The Shorter Stays in Emergency Departments (SSED) National Research Project seeks to address this. The purpose of this paper was to describe how the indicators for the SSED study in New Zealand were selected and validated. ⋯ Through literature review and consultation with stakeholders, an evidence-based and clinically relevant set of indicators was compiled with which to measure the effect of the SSED target. This indicator set is consistent with recent international recommendations for measuring quality of care in EDs.
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Emerg Med Australas · Jun 2012
Effect of working consecutive night shifts on sleep time, prior wakefulness, perceived levels of fatigue and performance on a psychometric test in emergency registrars.
To evaluate the effect of working consecutive night shifts on sleep time, prior wakefulness, perceived levels of fatigue and psychomotor performance in a group of Australian emergency registrars. ⋯ Registrars sleep a similar amount of time surrounding night and day shifts. Despite reporting the highest levels of fatigue at the end of a night shift, there is no significant difference in reaction times at the end of night shift compared with the beginning of day shift. This correlates with the finding that at the end of night shift the registrars have been awake for less than 16 h, which is the point at which psychomotor performance is expected to decline.