Military medicine
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A retrospective audit of 17,028 emergency charts at USAF Medical Center, Scott was performed over two time periods to compare patient waiting times and selected quality assurance parameters with two methods of physician staffing. Phase 1 consisted of 4 months when the Emergency Department (ED) was manned with five physicians assigned only to that department. Non-departmental physicians supplemented the full-time staff. ⋯ The time required to be seen by a physician decreased from an average of 25.6 minutes per patient in phase 1 to 13.7 minutes per patient in phase 2. Time to disposition also decreased from 71.9 minutes per patient in phase 1 to 59.5 minutes per patient in phase 2. In the second phase the number of "positive" x-ray findings increased, while the number of incomplete charts and patients who left without being seen by a physician diminished.
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During a "crossing the line ceremony" conducted aboard ship while returning from an extended deployment, 40 active duty sailors inadvertently received eye injuries from a chemical agent. The agent was suspected to be Magic Shave, a chemical depilatory powder containing calcium hydroxide as the active ingredient. Therefore, the resulting corneal burns were alkali in nature. ⋯ All patients were treated with irrigation of the affected eyes and most required patching for at least several days. No permanent eye disabilities resulted. The emergency treatment of chemical eye injuries is reviewed.
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Barbiturate anesthesia for cesarean section was well described by Kosaka almost 20 years ago. However, light balanced anesthesia has become the unofficial standard general anesthesia for cesarean section in this country. ⋯ The dilemma posed by cesarean section of a young woman with posterior fossa brain tumor led us to revive use of Kosaka's higher doses of thiobarbiturate. Together with regional and topical anesthesia of the larynx and trachea, this method resulted in stable maternal hemodynamics without resulting in neonatal depression.
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There will always be a need for some kind of rapidly deployable, easy to assemble, temporary shelter for use in military conflicts, large-scale military disasters, industrial accidents, major construction projects in remote areas, refugee relocation centers, military hospitals, and any temporary outdoor event requiring cover. The history of tenting is essentially a history of man's ingenuity in creating portable, rapidly erected, temporary shelter. This article will be limited to the stages of development of the latest in military tent hospitals.