The American journal of emergency medicine
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Effectiveness of CPR performance on a manikin was evaluated immediately after training in public CPR classes by trained independent observers using validated measures and procedures. An instrumented manikin was used to assess critical skills thought to be related to survival following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (compressions and ventilations), applying standards of the American Heart Association. The 226 subjects were enrolled in CPR classes offered to the public by the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association. ⋯ According to published criteria, trainee performance of CPR is poor. Failure in critical skills may contribute to poor survival rate following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. CPR training programs must be developed with attention to learner outcomes.
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Studies on the effectiveness of pain management have uniformly concluded that health care providers underestimate or undertreat pain. In the emergency department (ED) in which this study was conducted, physicians receive formal didactic and bedside teaching on pain recognition and management in order to heighten the awareness of patients' need for pain control. The purpose of this study was to determine if this outpatient pain management of patients with acute, painful conditions is better than that reported in the medical literature. ⋯ Patient satisfaction with pain control was higher (91%) than that reported in the medical literature. Also, pain medication was provided more frequently by this study's ED (95%). Education on pain awareness and treatment is a way to improve pain management.