Annals of emergency medicine
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Risk factors associated with unintentional gunshot fatalities among children include gender and race of the decedent, type of firearm used, and whether loaded guns are stored within the home. ⋯ The study results provide a basis for preventive strategies that limit accessibility or decrease lethality of loaded firearms within the home.
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Clinical Trial
A prospective analysis of intramuscular meperidine, promethazine, and chlorpromazine in pediatric emergency department patients.
To examine physiologic responses and efficacy of 2, 1, and 1 mg/kg IM meperidine, promethazine, and chlorpromazine (MPC), respectively, in children. ⋯ IM MPC is a safe and generally effective agent for ED procedures in selected children.
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To develop a diagnosis-based case mix classification system for emergency department patient visits based on direct costs of care designed for an outpatient setting. ⋯ We have developed a diagnosis-based case mix classification system for ED patient visits based on direct costs of care designed for an outpatient setting which, unlike diagnosis-related groups, includes the measurement of time-based cost for physician and nonphysician services. This classification system helps to define direct costs of hospital and physician emergency services by type of patient.
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Violence in the emergency department, a not uncommon but complex phenomenon, may become more serious when patients possess weapons. Searches are used frequently to reduce this danger, though guidelines for searches are not well delineated. We examined our practices in order to formalize our guidelines. ⋯ Although various factors contributed to a clear bias toward searching psychiatric patients, we believe that the rate of weapons possession did not support this bias.
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There is considerable under-reporting of contaminated occupational needlestick and other sharp object injuries among emergency health care workers. ⋯ Work-related contaminated sharp object injuries are under-reported by emergency health care workers, especially emergency physicians.