The American journal of emergency medicine
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The objective of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of the patient population of an urban emergency department (ED) in The People's Republic of China. A prospective observational study was conducted at a university-affiliated hospital adult ED medical unit and included all patients visiting the medical unit of the ED during a 2-week period. A data collection log was designed and placed in the ED. ⋯ These data offer emergency physicians a preliminary understanding of the clinic presentations and diagnoses of patients seen in a university-affiliated urban hospital ED in China. The number and length of time patients were held in observation unit point out the shortage of in-hospital beds. This study is useful for describing and understanding characteristics of the patient encounter and for improving the delivery of emergency care in China.
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To determine current practices regarding security measures in the emergency department (ED), a random sample of 250 hospitals with EDs was surveyed by telephone. Security issues addressed included personnel (in-house security, contract guards, or police), hours of staffing in the ED, how security is armed, whether ED doors are locked at off-hours, and whether alarm buttons, direct phone lines, a paging code, closed circuit surveillance, metal detectors, and seclusion rooms are used. This information was stratified according to hospital size, ED census, rural/suburban/urban setting, teaching/nonteaching status, and region. ⋯ Small, rural hospitals are more likely to lock the ED doors at off-hours, whereas the use of security codes does not clearly follow demographic trends. Larger hospitals in suburban and urban settings and having a teaching status are more likely to have secure/detention rooms and closed circuit surveillance. The use of alarm buttons and/or direct telephone lines varies widely, but is generally more common in larger, teaching hospitals, located in urban and suburban settings.
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The use of organs from poisoned victims for the purpose of transplantation has been poorly studied; criteria for organ donation is virtually non-existent in such cases. To further elucidate these indications, a retrospective review of all organ transplantation donated by poisoned victims in Northern and Central Illinois was undertaken. From January 1988 to December 1993, 17 poisoned victims were identified as having donated organs to 41 recipients. ⋯ Thirty-two kidneys were transplanted with 28 having good 10-day postoperative function, three having fair postoperative function, and one (cocaine donor) having poor postoperative function. One kidney transplanted from a cocaine donor had a thrombosed graft 5 days postoperatively. Deaths involving toxins in general does not seem to be a contraindication to donation of liver and kidney for transplantation.
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Letter Review Case Reports
Extensive palm thorn hematoma with associated hematuria.
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Letter Review Case Reports
Tibial fracture: a complication of intraosseous infusion.