The American journal of emergency medicine
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A small number of patients representing a significant demand on emergency department (ED) services present regularly for a variety of reasons, including psychiatric or behavioral complaints and lack of access to other services. A care plan program was created as a database of ED high users and patients of concern, as identified by ED staff and approved by program administrators to improve care and mitigate ED strain. ⋯ An alert program that identifies challenging ED patients with psychiatric conditions and creates a care plan appears to reduce visits and lead to more appropriate use of other resources.
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The purpose was to compare head kinematics between the Eject Helmet Removal System and manual football helmet removal. ⋯ Although the Eject system created more motion at the head, removing a helmet manually resulted in more sudden perturbations as identified by resultant velocity and acceleration of the head. The implications of these findings relate to the care of all cervical spine-injured patients in emergency medical settings, particularly in scenarios where helmet removal is necessary.
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Bedside ultrasound is being increasingly used by emergency physicians (EPs) for the differentiation of acute dyspnea in critically ill patients. Lung ultrasound is emerging as a highly sensitive tool in diagnosing alveolar interstitial edema with the presence of diffuse “B-lines” arising from the pleural line. However, when used independently, lung ultrasound is unable to differentiate between cardiogenic and noncardiogenic causes of pulmonary edema. This case report describes a rapid 3-view or “triple scan” sonographic examination to differentiate acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) from cardiogenic pulmonary edema.