Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2023
Calling an ambulance for non-emergency medical situations: Results of a cross-sectional online survey from an Australian nationally representative sample.
To investigate the Australian general public's perception of appropriate medical scenarios that warrants a call to an emergency ambulance. ⋯ Although emergency healthcare system (EHS) capacity not increasing at the same rate as demand is the biggest contributor to EHS burden, non-urgent medical situations for which other low-acuity healthcare pathways may be appropriate does play a small role in adding to the overburdening of the EHS. This present study outlines a series of complaints and demographic characteristics that would benefit from targeted educational interventions that may aid in alleviating ambulance service attendances to low-acuity callouts.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2023
The Emerging Drugs Network of Australia - Victoria Clinical Registry: A state-wide illicit substance surveillance and alert network.
With an increasingly dynamic global illicit drug market, including the emergence of novel psychoactive substances, many jurisdictions have moved to establish toxicosurveillance systems to enable timely detection of harmful substances in the community. This paper describes the methodology for the Emerging Drugs Network of Australia - Victoria (EDNAV) project, a clinical registry focused on the collection of high-quality clinical and analytical data from ED presentations involving illicit drug intoxications. Drug intelligence collected from the project is utilised by local health authorities with the aim to identify patterns of drug use and emerging drugs of concern. ⋯ The EDNAV project represents the first centralised system providing near real-time monitoring of community drug use in Victoria and is fundamental in facilitating evidence-based public health intervention.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2023
Prevalence of psychoactive drugs in injured patients presenting to an emergency department.
The aim of the present study was to obtain an unbiased understanding of the prevalence of psychoactive drugs in trauma patients presenting to a large ED. ⋯ The prevalence of psychoactive drugs in injury presentations to an ED is high, and provides an opportunity to reduce harm. The present study demonstrates the feasibility of an approach which limits bias and obtains results that accurately reflect the drug prevalence in injured cohorts. Systematic testing of injured patients is an important contribution to the epidemiology of injury.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2023
From signal to alert: A cluster of exposures to counterfeit alprazolam tablets containing five novel benzodiazepines.
To illustrate the toxicosurveillance role of the Emerging Drugs Network of Australia - Victoria (EDNAV) project in informing timely harm minimisation interventions. ⋯ Toxicosurveillance projects, such as EDNAV, are critical to the continued monitoring and reporting of illicit substance use in the community.
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Emerg Med Australas · Feb 2023
Potentially avoidable emergency department transfers from residential aged care facilities for possible post-fall intracranial injury.
To determine the percentage of potentially preventable residential aged care facility (RACF) to ED transfers for potential intracranial injury post-fall. To describe rates of CT brain (CTB) performance, intracranial trauma-related findings, neurosurgical intervention, and patient outcome. ⋯ Just over half of the RACF to ED transfers were classified as 'potentially avoidable'.