Annals of emergency medicine
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After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, thousands of ill and injured evacuees were transported to Houston, TX. Houston's regional disaster plan was quickly implemented, leading to the activation of the Regional Hospital Preparedness Council's Catastrophic Medical Operations Center and the rapid construction of a 65-examination-room medical facility within the Reliant Center. A plan for triage of arriving evacuees was quickly developed and the Astrodome/Reliant Center Complex mega-shelter was created. Herein, we discuss major elements of the regional disaster response, including regional coordination, triage and emergency medical service transfers into the region's medical centers, medical care in population shelters, and community health challenges.
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Multicenter Study
Safety and injury profile of conducted electrical weapons used by law enforcement officers against criminal suspects.
Conducted electrical weapons such as the Taser are commonly used by law enforcement agencies. The safety of these weapons has been the subject of scrutiny and controversy; previous controlled studies in animals and healthy humans may not accurately reflect the risks of conducted electrical weapons used in actual conditions. We seek to determine the safety and injury profile of conducted electrical weapons used against criminal suspects in a field setting. ⋯ To our knowledge, these findings represent the first large, independent, multicenter study of conducted electrical weapon injury epidemiology and suggest that more than 99% of subjects do not experience significant injuries after conducted electrical weapon use.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Pretreatment of patients requiring oral contrast abdominal computed tomography with antiemetics: a randomized controlled trial of efficacy.
Ingestion of diatrizoate meglumine before abdominal computed tomography (CT) is time consuming. We hypothesized that pretreatment with metoclopramide or ondansetron would result in faster ingestion of diatrizoate meglumine than placebo. ⋯ Pretreatment with ondansetron or metoclopramide does not reduce oral contrast solution ingestion time.