The American journal of emergency medicine
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The purpose of the study was to determine the epidemiology and the etiology of cardiac arrests witnessed by emergency medical services (EMS) personnel and the survival from resuscitation according to the Utstein style. Consecutive prehospital cardiac arrests witnessed by EMS personnel in the Helsinki City EMS system between January 1, 1994 and December 31, 1995 were included in this prospective cohort study. A total of 809 cardiac arrests were registered during the study period, 108 (13.3%) of which were EMS-witnessed. ⋯ In multivariate analysis, initial rhythm of ventricular fibrillation and cardiac etiology remained independent factors of survival. These results indicate that overall survival rates in EMS-witnessed cardiac arrests have remained low but those who survive are discharged without major neurological sequelae. Noncardiac etiology accounts for 45% of cases and seems to be a major determinant of low overall survival rates.
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Changes to Federal regulations pertaining to waiver of informed consent for acute care research were debated by the research and regulatory communities for more than 2 years before being finalized in October of 1996. Input from the general public was limited. This survey investigated the opinions of emergency medicine patients concerning waiver of informed consent for acute care research. ⋯ While most emergency medicine patients would want to be enrolled in a study if they had a serious illness and were unable to give informed consent, a significant percentage of patients would not want to be enrolled regardless of the degree of risk or availability of a family member to speak on their behalf. Waiver of informed consent for emergency research is an ethical dilemma pitting individual rights against societal needs and physician parentalism. A better understanding of what patients consider appropriate may help in resolving this dilemma.
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The purpose of this study was to quantify the proportion of men and women seen in a university emergency department (ED) for treatment of injuries resulting from intimate partner violence (IPV) that require reports to law enforcement authorities. A total of 1,516 adult ED patients were asked to complete a written survey instrument; 1,003 patients (66.2%) completed the survey. Two percent of patients reported they presented to the ED for treatment of injuries resulting from IPV. ⋯ Six percent of respondents reported that they had ever been threatened with a gun or knife by a partner, 2% within the past year. Only the lifetime prevalence of IPV was significantly greater among female patients, 15% versus 6% (P < .001). Approximately 2% of our ED patients require law enforcement intervention for IPV.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Wound infection rate and irrigation pressure of two potential new wound irrigation devices: the port and the cap.
The objectives of this study were to determine the speed of irrigation and the infection rate of two new irrigation devices. In the clinical portion of this two-part study, 208 patients with traumatic wounds were randomized to one of two new irrigation device groups, the cap/bottle or the port/bag, to determine irrigation times and infection/complication rates. Wounds were irrigated in less than 4 minutes in 97% of patients using a mean of 786 mL. ⋯ In part II, 9 male and 8 female medical volunteers were timed in the delivery of 250 mL of saline into a graduated cylinder, using four different irrigation set-ups. Mean time for 250 mL and calculated stream pressures (psi) were: (1) cap/bottle, 12.9 seconds, 1.5 psi; (2) port/bag, 11.2 seconds, 2.0 psi; (3) syringe/catheter, 113.2 seconds, 8.2 psi; and (4) syringe/needle, 175.4 seconds, 7.3 psi (time and psi: P < .05 for all pairwise comparisons except cap versus port). Rapid irrigation and infection rates comparable with standard devices used in wound irrigation suggest that the new devices may prove to be valuable tools in emergent wound care.
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Pulse oximetry is commonly used to rapidly determine oxygen saturation and is incorporated in emergency triage as a screening for potential cardiopulmonary complications. This study examined the effect of routine pulse oximetry measurements on emergency department (ED) triage classification. ⋯ Although this group is small in number, the potential consequences of missing a hypoxic condition could be devastating for the individual patient. Since pulse oximetry is presently an inexpensive technology, it would seem to be a worthwhile screening tool for emergency triage.