The American journal of emergency medicine
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The Core Content for Emergency Medicine (EM) recommends that all emergency physicians be trained to manage the airway, including administering paralytic agents for endotracheal intubation. This study analyzed compliance with the recommendations by reviewing airway management practices at EM residencies. All 96 EM residency directors were sent a 10-item survey characterizing airway management practices at residency-affiliated emergency departments (EDs). ⋯ The majority of EM residencies are complying with the Core Content recommendations by actively performing intubations using paralytic agents. Anesthesiologists are infrequently consulted in residency-affiliated EDs. Quality assurance of ED intubations is not rigorously monitored by emergency and anesthesiology departments.
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The authors evaluated skill levels of trainees (n = 48) who were taught cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in "American Red Cross: Adult CPR" classes offered at a work site. The evaluation used a validated skill checklist and a Laerdal Skillmeter mannequin to assess trainee competence. ⋯ All trainees felt confident they could use their CPR skills in an actual emergency; 64% were "very confident." Videotape recordings of the practice sessions showed that instructors overlooked many errors in CPR performance and that trainees provided little corrective feedback to one another. The role of instructors in assisting CPR skill practice and in evaluating skill mastery is questioned.