The American journal of emergency medicine
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Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a critical condition with poor outcomes. Although the survival rate increases in those who undergo defibrillation, the utility of on-time defibrillation among bystanders remained low. An evaluation of the deployment strategy for public access defibrillators (PADs) is necessary to increase their use and accessibility. This study was to conduct a systematic review for deployment strategies of PADs. ⋯ Three deployment strategies were presented. Although the optimal method could not be fully identified, a more efficient PAD deployment could benefit the population in terms of OHCA coverage and survival among patients with OHCA.
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Comparative Study
Comparison of IVC diameter ratio, BUN/creatinine ratio and BUN/albumin ratio for risk prediction in emergency department patients.
Early prediction of patients' prognosis in the emergency department (ED) is important. Patients' conditions such as dehydration help predict prognosis. The ratio of serum blood urea nitrogen to creatinine (BUN/Cr ratio) and inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter is often used to determine dehydration. Also, serum albumin levels reflect nutritional conditions such as dehydration. In this study, we evaluated the performance of BUN/Cr ratio, IVC diameter ratio, and BUN/Albumin ratio as predictive markers for in-hospital mortality and ICU admission among various diseases in ED. ⋯ Among dehydration markers the BUN/Albumin ratio is a simple and useful tool for predicting the outcomes of patients visiting the ED.
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Comparative Study
The comparison of psychological scales as hospitalization predictors between adult and elderly suicide attempters.
During the process of managing suicide attempters in the emergency department (ED), the importance of hospitalization has been emphasized. Lethality and intent have been suggested as hospitalization determinants of suicide attempters, but their predictive values remain limited in adult and elderly populations. ⋯ The age-by-RRRS interaction is significantly associated with hospitalization, and the RRRS implementation as a hospitalization determinant is more useful and suitable for elderly suicide attempters than for adult suicide attempters in an emergency setting.
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As the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) pandemic progresses, various hematologic complications have emerged, often centered around the hypercoagulable state. However, pancytopenia represents a rare but serious complication from SARS-CoV2 infection. While lymphopenia is a common finding, concomitant acute anemia and thrombocytopenia are not commonly reported. We describe a novel case of SARS-CoV2 pancytopenia in a 40-year-old male without active risk factors for cell line derangements but subsequent critical illness.
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The global COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the utilization of healthcare services; however, the impact on population-level emergency department (ED) utilization patterns for the treatment of acute injuries has not been fully characterized. ⋯ Both ED avoidance and decreased exposures may have contributed to these declines, creating implications for injury morbidity and mortality. Injury outcomes exacerbated by the pandemic should be addressed by timely public health responses.