Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2005
Comparative StudyHow accurate is weight estimation in the emergency department?
To determine the accuracy of medical staff, nursing staff and patients for estimating weight in an ED population. ⋯ Patients are generally accurate in estimating their true weight and health care workers showed only moderate accuracy. Where possible, drug dose calculations should be based on measured weight and if this is not possible, patient estimate of weight should be sought. Health care worker estimation should be used only when this is not possible.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2005
Boarder belly: splenic injuries resulting from ski and snowboarding accidents.
Snowboarding has increased in popularity worldwide, with an associated increase in injuries suffered by its participants with a significant proportion of these injuries being severe. We sought to understand the risk of sustaining a splenic injury in snowboarders as compared to skiers, and whether there are noteworthy differences in their characteristics at hospital admission. ⋯ The risk of sustaining an injury of the spleen resulting from blunt abdominal trauma while snowboarding is significantly greater than the risk while downhill skiing. Male snowboarders have a significantly higher risk of splenic injury than female snowboarders. In the majority of cases, snowboarders sustained their injuries as a result of falls or jumps.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialCPR before defibrillation in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: a randomized trial.
Current resuscitation guidelines recommend that defibrillation be undertaken as soon as possible in patients suffering a cardiac arrest where the cardiac rhythm is either ventricular fibrillation (VF) or ventricular tachycardia (VT). Evidence from animal and clinical studies suggests that outcomes may be improved if a period of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is given prior to defibrillation. The objective of this study was to determine if 90 seconds of CPR before defibrillation improved survival. ⋯ Ninety seconds of CPR before defibrillation does not improve overall survival in patients suffering VF/VT cardiac arrests. Further studies to evaluate various aspects of this treatment strategy are required as published outcomes to date are inconclusive.