Annals of emergency medicine
-
Quality assurance (QA) is an increasingly important element in the administrative management of the ED. The need to critically self-evaluate physician performance, allocate scarce resources, and conduct careful risk management requires a methodology well met by a comprehensive QA plan. ⋯ The means by which such wide-ranging issues can be brought into a single comprehensive plan require an efficient and flexible model of ED administration that includes problem identification, resolution and monitoring, risk management, and sensible administration. The QA elements of monitoring, assessment, improvement, documentation, generic screening, and standards of care are examined.
-
Local anesthetics are remarkably useful agents that enhance patient comfort and improve patient compliance. Their use, however, requires an understanding of their action, proper dosages, potential risks, and treatment of reactions. We have presented the history, pharmacokinetics, action, risks of using, and ways in which agents are used to treat the most common agents, with notes on the special aspects of each agent. With the increased awareness that these are, indeed, not benign substances, we hope that serious reactions can be avoided by prophylactic measures and proper treatment in the early stages of toxicity.