Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2004
Comparative StudyMultidisciplinary assessment at triage: a new way forward.
To evaluate a dual doctor and nurse triage system at a tertiary referral hospital. ⋯ We feel that multidisciplinary triage performs a useful function in our department enabling us to reduce waiting times. The process is widely accepted amongst the staff and it ensures a senior doctor assesses most patients. It reduces the number of patients leaving prior to being seen by a doctor and it provides one way of getting around access block and a physically small department.
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This article presents a summary of the common foreign bodies (FB) and a practical approach to diagnosis and management. Removal of FB requires good lighting, a cooperative or fully restrained patient and a gentle approach by the clinician. An accurate diagnosis of the FB should be made prior to attempts to remove it and most, if not all FB could be safely removed the following day under better lighting conditions, sedation or anaesthesia in a fasted patient by a more senior clinician.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2004
Pilot study of metropolitan emergency department workload complexity.
Assessment of emergency department (ED) patient complexity using the number of procedures, investigations or consultations (PICsum). ⋯ An intuitive partition in the complexity distribution is identified at up to one procedure, one investigation and one consultation. Patient age is correlated with complexity and ED age distribution may be a useful proxy for complexity, particularly if used in conjunction with validated age versus complexity tables.