Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2011
International Federation for Emergency Medicine Model Curriculum for Emergency Medicine Specialists.
To meet a critical and growing need for emergency physicians and emergency medicine resources worldwide, physicians must be trained to deliver time-sensitive interventions and lifesaving emergency care. Currently, there is no globally recognized, standard curriculum that defines the basic minimum standards for specialist trainees in emergency medicine. To address this deficit, the International Federation for Emergency Medicine convened a committee of international physicians, health professionals and other experts in emergency medicine and international emergency medicine development to outline a curriculum for training of specialists in emergency medicine. ⋯ The content of this curriculum is relevant not just for communities with mature emergency medicine systems, but in particular for developing nations or for nations seeking to expand emergency medicine within the current educational structure. We anticipate that there will be wide variability in how this curriculum is implemented and taught. This variability will reflect the existing educational milieu, the resources available, and the goals of the institutions' educational leadership with regard to the training of emergency medicine specialists.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2011
Bedside review of patient care in an emergency department: The Cow Round.
Clinical handover is a critical point in medical care in the ED, which can contribute to adverse effects for patient care and staff workloads. Over a 4 and a half months in a tertiary referral hospital ED, a centralized whiteboard handover was performed followed by a multidisciplinary review of each patient. This round was referred to as the 'Cow Round'. ⋯ Review of patients led by a senior member of medical staff, at the patient bedside enables the timely identification and management of issues not communicated during the whiteboard handover process. This review is important when more patients are receiving treatment in the department.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2011
Case ReportsShifting Gas Artefact Sign: Early sonographic detection of pneumoperitoneum.
This case report describes the use of ultrasound to diagnose pneumoperitoneum in an unstable patient with abdominal pain. Gas in peritoneum produces a specific sonographic appearance. The use of dynamic manoeuvres improves confidence in the ultrasound diagnosis of free gas. ⋯ The literature on sonographic detection of pneumoperitoneum is reviewed. The detection of pneumoperitoneum is a significant finding in non-traumatic abdominal pain and also in blunt abdominal trauma. In both settings more research is required to validate the utility of the test in the acute setting.
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Emerg Med Australas · Oct 2011
Patient perceptions of the potential lethality associated with deliberate self-poisoning.
Little is known about patient perceptions of the lethality of their overdose. Our aim was to compare patient perceptions with the risk assessment of clinical toxicologists. ⋯ Patient perceptions of the lethality of their overdose are correlated with their suicidal intent as measured on the Pierce SIS, with a significant mismatch between patient perceptions and the toxicological risk assessment.