Annals of emergency medicine
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Comparative Study
Tuberculosis in homeless patients: potential for case finding in public emergency departments.
Previous studies have had difficulty evaluating the optimal clinical site for screening homeless patients for active tuberculosis (TB). We hypothesized that homeless patients with TB would not frequently reside in shelters at the time of their diagnosis and would be more likely than other patients with TB to seek care in public hospitals, thus presenting an opportunity for screening radiography. ⋯ Widespread screening for TB in shelters may miss most homeless patients with TB. Because most county-hospital homeless patients with TB initially present to emergency departments and many do not live in shelters, future cost-effectiveness studies should evaluate chest radiograph screening for all homeless ED patients.
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Comparative Study
Use of automated external defibrillators by police officers for treatment of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
To determine the feasibility of police officers providing defibrillation with automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and to assess the effectiveness of this strategy in reducing time to defibrillation of victims of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrest. ⋯ In 7 suburban communities, police use of AEDs decreased time to defibrillation and was an independent predictor of survival to hospital discharge.
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Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
The Ontario Prehospital Advanced Life Support (OPALS) Study: rationale and methodology for cardiac arrest patients.
The Ontario Prehospital Advanced Life Support Study represents the largest prehospital study yet conducted, worldwide. This study will involve more than 25,000 cardiac arrest, trauma, and critically ill patients over an 8-year period. The study will evaluate the incremental benefit of rapid defibrillation and prehospital Advanced Cardiac Life Support measures for cardiac arrest survival and the benefit of Advanced Life Support for patients with traumatic injuries and other critically ill prehospital patients. This article describes the OPALS study with regard to the rationale and methodology for cardiac arrest patients.