Annals of emergency medicine
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Erroneous time documentation of emergency treatment caused by the variation in the accuracy of timepieces has profound medical, medicolegal, and research consequences. The purpose of this study was to confirm the variation of critical timepiece settings in an urban emergency care system noted in previous studies and to implement and monitor the results of a prospective program to improve time synchronization. ⋯ Emergency medical timepieces are often inaccurate, making it difficult to reconstruct events for medical, medicolegal, or research purposes. Community synchronization of timepieces to the atomic clock can reduce the problem significantly, but the effects of a one-time attempted synchronization event are short-lived. [Ornato JP, Doctor ML, Harbour LF, Peberdy MA, Overton J, Racht EM, Zauhar WG, Smith AP, Ryan KA: Synchronization of time-pieces to the atomic clock in an urban emergency medical services system. Ann Emerg Med April 1998;31:483-487.].
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To determine whether race, when controlled for income, is an independent predictor of survival to hospital discharge after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). ⋯ Race was not found to predict adverse OHCA outcomes in this affluent population.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of arterial and venous blood gas values in the initial emergency department evaluation of patients with diabetic ketoacidosis.
To determine whether venous blood gas values can replace arterial gas values in the initial emergency department evaluation of patients with suspected diabetic ketoacidosis. ⋯ Venous blood gas measurements accurately demonstrate the degree of acidosis of adult ED patients presenting with diabetic ketoacidosis.
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To determine whether an intensive educational campaign of emergency department personnel on the organ donor and procurement process would result in both increased organ donor referrals and organs procured. ⋯ Emergency physicians are in a unique position as first caregivers to interact with both potential donors and their families. With intensive education of ED staff, proper identification and referral, as well as timely intervention by organ procurement representatives, the consent and donation rate of organs for transplantation can be increased and maintained.