Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2023
Planning for the next pandemic: Reflections on lessons from the uncontained transmission phases of the COVID-19 pandemic and their impacts on emergency departments in Australia.
Australia was a world leader in managing the earlier waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, three major turning points changed the trajectory of the pandemic: mass vaccinations, emergence of more transmissible variants and re-opening of Australia's borders. However, there were also concomitant missteps and premature shifts in pandemic response policy that led to mixed messaging, slow initial vaccination uptake and minimal mitigation measures in response to the Omicron variant. ⋯ This led to an exponential increase in cases and significant impacts on the health system, particularly, EDs. This paper reflects on this phase of the pandemic to urge for system-level changes that instal better safeguards for ED capacity, safety and staff well-being for future pandemics. This is essential to strengthening our health system's resilience and to better protecting our communities against such emergencies.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2023
Triage to electrocardiogram sign-off time in patients with acute coronary syndrome at a metropolitan Sydney hospital.
To compare the time from triage to ECG sign-off in patients with acute coronary syndrome, before and after the introduction of an electronic medical record-integrated ECG workflow system (Epiphany). Additionally, to assess for any correlation between patient characteristics and ECG sign-off times. ⋯ The introduction of the Epiphany system has significantly reduced the triage to ECG sign-off time in the ED. Despite this, there remains a large proportion of patients with acute coronary syndrome who do not have an ECG signed-off within the guideline-recommended 10 min.
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Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2023
Comment Observational StudyImpact of time of intensive care unit transfer and outcomes in patients with septic shock: An observational study.
To evaluate the association between time from ED presentation to intensive care unit (ICU) transfer on mortality in patients presenting with septic shock. ⋯ In patients presenting to the ED with septic shock, ED-to-ICU time less than 4 h was not associated with altered 90-day mortality, although this should be interpreted with caution due to study limitations.