Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
-
Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2009
Comparative StudyFactors influencing consistency of triage using the Australasian Triage Scale: implications for guideline development.
To examine the influence of the nurse, the type of patient presentation and the level of hospital service on consistency of triage using the Australasian Triage Scale. ⋯ We identified significant problems with the consistency of triage for mental health and pregnancy presentations. Further research is needed to improve the guidelines on the implementation of the Australasian Triage Scale for these populations.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2009
Comparative StudyFactors influencing rural versus metropolitan work choices for emergency physicians.
To survey Fellows of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (FACEM) on how a range of factors influenced their decision to accept their most recent position. To compare this information between rural and metropolitan FACEM. ⋯ The influence of different types of factors appears to differ between rural and metropolitan FACEM and this information might assist in the formulation of strategies aimed at increasing the rural workforce.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2009
What is the nature of the emergence phenomenon when using intravenous or intramuscular ketamine for paediatric procedural sedation?
Ketamine has become the drug most favoured by emergency physicians for sedation of children in the ED. Some emergency physicians do not use ketamine for paediatric procedural sedation (PPS) because of concern about emergence delirium on recovery. The present study set out to determine the true incidence and nature of this phenomenon. ⋯ The belief that ketamine, in the doses used for ED PPS, causes frequent emergence delirium is flawed. A pleasant emergence phenomenon is common, but is not distressing for the child, and has no long-term (up to 30 days) negative sequelae. Rarely, there is anxiety or distress on awakening from ketamine sedation, which settles spontaneously. This should not deter emergency physicians from using ketamine for PPS.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2009
Clinical TrialConfirmation of endotracheal intubation by combined ultrasonographic methods in the Emergency Department.
The objective of the present study was to investigate whether the combined use of transcricothyroid membrane ultrasonography and ultrasonographic evaluation for pleural sliding is useful for verifying endotracheal intubation in the ED. ⋯ The combination of transcricothyroid membrane ultrasonography and ultrasonographic lung-sliding evaluation could be useful in confirming endotracheal intubation in the ED.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Aug 2009
Emergency Department access block occupancy predicts delay to surgery in patients with fractured neck of femur.
The present study aimed to identify any relationship between existing access block occupancy (ABO) at the time of patient presentation and delay to definitive procedure. ⋯ The number of access block patients at the time of arrival directly predicts delay to operation in this setting. This suggests that access block occupancy is a marker of hospital dysfunction.