Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
-
Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2009
Comparative StudyProcedural sedation in children in the emergency department: a PREDICT study.
To investigate current procedural sedation practice and compare clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for procedural sedation at Paediatric Research in Emergency Departments International Collaborative (PREDICT) sites. This will determine areas for improvement and provide baseline data for future multicentre studies. ⋯ Procedural sedation in this research network commonly uses N(2)O, ketamine and midazolam for a wide range of procedures. Areas of improvement are the lack of guidelines for certain agents, documentation, staff competency training and auditing processes. Multicentre research could close gaps in terms of age cut-offs, fasting times and optimal indications for various agents.
-
Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2009
Patterns of presentation to the Australian and New Zealand Paediatric Emergency Research Network.
To describe epidemiological data concerning paediatric ED visits to an Australian and New Zealand research network. ⋯ This is the first description of the epidemiology of patient presentations to major paediatric ED in Australia and New Zealand. It details baseline data important to future collaborative studies and for planning health services for children.
-
The development of clinical practice guidelines (CPG) is a core task in EDs and CPGs are widely used. The process of CPGs development in Australian and New Zealand ED is unknown. We aim to describe this process in paediatric EDs and examine the feasibility of developing collaborative guidelines. ⋯ Paediatric EDs expend significant resources to develop CPGs. Collaborative guidelines would likely decrease duplication of effort and increase the number of available, current and evidence-based CPGs.
-
Although human interaction with leeches is common in Australia, there is little documented literature on ocular injuries as a result of contact with a leech. We report a case of ocular leech attachment and a previously undocumented method of removal with hypertonic saline solution.